Dawn service shortened, but not under threat
Anzac dawn services may become significantly shorter in the future, but the South Canterbury RSA is adamant the tradition is not under threat.
Tuesday’s dawn service in Timaru, which would normally be around 45 minutes long, was cut short and lasted about 15 minutes, South Canterbury RSA vice president Lee Johns said.
This was, in part, due to the number of wreathes that were laid at the dawn service being cut back, with majority of the wreathes instead laid at the civic service.
The New Zealand national anthem was not played at the Timaru dawn service either, as the SCRSA was advised by past committee members not to because of noise concerns and being close to the hospital, Johns said.
She said the biggest change people would notice with future dawn services was that they would be shorter.
Nearly 1000 people gather to pay their respects at the service, SCRSA secretary and manager Michelle Brown said.
Brown said the public would ‘‘absolutely never see the death of the dawn service’’ and that it was critically important to continue with traditions.
Johns said the committee had decided the dawn services had become too long, which had become hard on the older veterans.
‘‘To be honest I don’t think we we would ever go back to it being 45 minutes’’.
Three wreathes were laid at the dawn service, while 42 wreathes were laid at civic service.
She said the problem with laying 42 wreathes at the dawn ser- vice was that the majority of people left before it became light, so people could not see them and it took a long time.
The SCRSA had received a lot of feedback from the public asking why so many wreathes were laid at the civic service over the dawn service, Johns said.
She said the great thing about having a longer civic service was it allowed the community to be more involved and allowed people to have a better understanding of the background behind each wreath.
She said next year’s service would include a new aspect that would be ‘‘really nice’’ and extend the service out to approximately 20 minutes.
She declined to say what that aspect would be.
RSA national president BJ Clark said said the dawn service and wreath laying were longstanding traditions that served as a ‘‘token of remembrance’’.
He said the number of veterans in New Zealand were increasing year on year and although the World War II veterans were ‘‘dwindling quickly’’ the dawn service and wreath laying were a intricate part of Anzac day services.