Devoted veterans gather to remember the fallen
Time may have continued to take its toll, and the numbers may have been down on last year, but the devotion was still very clear on the faces of the veterans who turned out for the Napier RSA's Armistice Day Service at Memorial Square on Sunday.
The service began at 11am, on the 11th day of the 11th month - the day the armistice announcing peace was signed between the allies and Germany in 1918.
Napier RSA president John Purcell gave the opening address which was followed by a minute's silence and an address from Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott.
The service has long been part of the Napier RSA's annual commemorative schedule, although outside the main centres few other associations staged Armistice Day services. "It is important that we remember," said former Royal Navy veteran Stan Douglas of Napier.
Veterans from all three arms of the defence service attended the commemoration service.
After the playing of the Last Post, the reading of the Ode, Reveille and the Benediction carried out by RSA chaplain the Reverend Bill Chapman, veterans and others in attendance enjoyed a morning tea put on by the RSA.
