Since Anzac Day was marked for the first time in 1916, Kiwis and Australians around the world have gathered to reflect on New Zealand and Australia’s national day of remembrance. The day holds special significance, because it is an opportunity to remember and honour the service and sacrifice of those who have gone before us.
The Museum archives unit documents how the Royal New Zealand Air Force has always been present on Anzac Day, at wreath-layings, parades and gatherings from small-town New Zealand to our larger cities and abroad.
These images show that then, just as now, airmen have formed an integral part of our nation’s Anzac Day commemorations.
RNZAF Chief of Air Staff Air Vice-Marshal Leonard Isitt (left) laying a wreath at the Wellington Cenotaph about 1944. Image credit: ©RNZAF Official PR2968 The 5000 Poppies installation at the Air Force Museum in 2015. Image credit: ©Air Force Museum of New Zealand MUS1500553 An RNZAF airman stands guard as part of the cenotaph party, while service representatives prepare to lay wreaths during the 50th Anniversary of Anzac Day parade at the Auckland War Memorial in 1965. Image credit: ©RNZAF Official WhG8220~65 RNZAF personnel stand alongside their Army and Navy comrades in a guard of honour on Anzac Day in Wellington in 1997. Image credit: ©RNZAF Official PD7-23a~97 An RNZAF airwoman helps with the RSA’s Poppy Day street appeal in Wellington in 1979. Image credit: ©RNZAF Official PR2334-8~79 Veterans and other members of the public gathered in the Air Force Museum Atrium for the Anzac Day service in 2007. Image credit: ©Air Force Museum of New Zealand MUS0701510 
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) drummers leading an Anzac parade through the Bridge of Remembrance, Cashel Street, Christchurch, in 1942. Image credit: © Air Force Museum of New Zealand MUS02168 
Three Blackburn Baffins, three Avro 626s and six Vickers Vildebeests from RNZAF Wigram perform a flypast over Christchurch on Anzac Day in 1939. Image credit: ©RNZAF Official ALB8553835c
