BEFORE first light on a crisp autumn morning yesterday, hundreds of people gathered for the Anzac Day dawn service at the Hamilton Melville Oval Cenotaph, to commemorate Australians lost in war.

As morning light began to creep over the white crosses under the monument, Hamilton RSL sub-branch treasurer, Paul Shewell led the service.

Mr Shewell reflected upon the events at Gallipoli, Turkey, in the First World War and said that the Australians were first to land at Anzac Cove, followed by the New Zealanders later in the day.

“They advanced about a mile in some places, far less in others,” he said.

“Some 2000 Australians were killed or wounded on the first day on April 25.

“It was day of confusion and fear.

“One soldier called it a day of sorrow as he remembered the dead and the wounded.”

Mr Shewell reminded the crowd of the futility of the campaign, stating that despite the initial small gain in territory, they advanced no further and for the next eight months, the campaign was a stale mate.

Mr Shewell reflected that the white crosses planted in front of the cenotaph represented only a tiny portion of the huge amount of life lost in the first world war, in consequent wars and peace keeping missions since that time.

“Hopefully it will never happen again,” he said.

“The result of the Gallipoli campaign - there were 130,000 lives lost on both sides.”

Retired Uniting Church Reverend, Peter Cook, asked those gathered to join him in a prayer to remember, to honour and to thank those who gave their lives in service.

“For those who have suffered physical, mental and emotional injury,” he prayed.

“The families of the fallen or injured.

“We pray for the current members of our armed forces, particularly those involved in peace keeping operations and for their families.

“Dear God, we ache for a peaceful world - that those in positions of leadership and power across the world make decisions increasingly with the goal of peace.

“May empathy, compassion, dialogue, and cooperation overtake the cruelty and futility of war driven pursuits.

“And may our gift to those for whom we gather, be a commitment to peace, that their endeavours may continue to bear fruit in our time.”

Hamilton’s Legacy members, Rod Papworth and Bill Garrett, read the iconic poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’, forever linked to commemorating the Anzacs, while Nicholas Huf played the Last Post and the Reveille.