Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Anzac dawn service at Waikumete
11 April 2006
Anzac dawn service at Waikumete
One headstone in New Zealand's largest war cemetery - Waikumete Cemetery - tells a particularly heartbreaking story of war. Four young men, probably brothers, share a common grave:
Pte A. G. Browne - Died March 13, 1919, aged 20
Pte H.
M. Browne - Died of wounds (France) September 14, 1918, aged
24
Trpr J. Browne - Killed in action (Gaza) April 19,
1917, aged 25
Pte W. H. Browne - Killed in action
(Flanders) December 5, 1917, aged 27
How the Browne family coped with losing so many of their young men over a two year period during World War I is unimaginable.
Family tragedies like the Browne's are at the heart of what draws increasing numbers of people to Waikumete Cemetery cenotaph on Anzac Day each year. It's their way of saying, "We remember".
The service has seen a surge in attendance over the last few years as more and more young people choose to honour the hundreds of thousands of men and women who lost their lives in war.
Wet or fine, the Waitakere City Council and local Returned Service Associations will hold a candlelit dawn service at the Waikumete Cemetery cenotaph in Glen Eden on Anzac Day.
People should assemble at the cenotaph, on the corner of Glenview and Great North Roads, at 5.45am for a 6am service.
Other services around the city:
Swanson RSA: Parade assembles at Swanson Primary School at 8.45am and marches to Swanson RSA with service starting at 9am.
New Lynn RSA: Memorial Square service starting at 9.30am.
Te Atatu Peninsula RSA: Parade commences from Hereford Street at 9.45am for 10am service.
Titirangi RSA: Service commences at War Memorial Hall at 10.30am.
Laingholm Community Parade: Parade and Service at Laingholm Hall from 10.30am.
Henderson RSA: Parade departing from the Fire Station in Railside Avenue at 10.25am for 10.30am service.
Hobsonville RSA: Parade assembling at Hobsonville School at 10.40am, start marching at 10.45am for service at 11am.
Glen Eden RSA: Parade from Sarona Avenue to Cenotaph at Waikumete Cemetery, Cnr Great North and Glenview Roads, for 11am service.
Waitakere RSA: Waitakere RSA Clubrooms, Township Road, parade and service from 11am.
Piha RSA: Assembling at Piha RSA, departure 1.45pm, marching Beach Valley on to Marine Parade, finishing at Lion Rock for 2pm service.
ENDS
Gordon Campbell: On The Royal Commission’s Fine-tuning Of Vaccine Mandates And Lockdowns
Land Air Water Aotearoa: Ambitious Nationwide Initiative To Track And Share Actions To Improve Freshwater
NZ Government: Chemical Weapons And Iranian Missiles Targeted In New Russia Sanctions
Ministry For Culture And Heritage: Reverberations Of Erebus Disaster Still Felt 45 Years Later
Watercare Services: No Cause For Concern After Slightly Elevated Levels Of Arsenic Detected In Treated Waikato River Water
Te Pāti Māori: Government’s First Year A ‘Catastrophe For Māori’
Department Of Internal Affairs: Samoan Citizenship Bill Passes Into Law
