From dawn services across Aotearoa to enjoying Anzac biscuits in South Sudan, serving New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel will be commemorating Anzac Day around the world on Thursday.
Across the country, Kiwis will soon be gathering for dawn services to spark a day of national collective remembrance for soldiers who've lost their lives at war.
More than 30,000 New Zealand military personnel have been killed in wars and conflicts since 1915.
This year's Anzac Day marks 109 years on from the Gallipoli landings.
The NZDF has shared how it's personnel will commemorate the day both in New Zealand and overseas.
Locally-based NZDF personnel will be providing ceremonial support around the country on Thursday.
All three of the armed services - Navy, Army and Air Force - as well as personnel from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will be represented at Go Media Stadium, where more than 150 uniformed servicemen and servicewomen will perform ceremonial duties and represent the Defence Force as the Warriors take on the Titans.
And on his final Anzac Day as chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short will attend both the dawn service and national commemoration service at Wellington's Pukeahu National War Memorial.
"On a personal note, representing the Defence Force at this commemoration has been incredibly moving, and something I will forever feel privileged to have experienced. And being able to mark my final Anzac Day in uniform alongside our friends and colleagues from across the Tasman is truly significant for me," Short said.
"It fills me with pride when I think of all the service and sacrifice our personnel, and importantly their whānau, have contributed to the New Zealand Defence Force, and to New Zealand in general.
"From those who landed on the shores of Gallipoli, to our servicemen and servicewomen posted abroad today protecting and upholding the international rules-based order, and values intrinsically important to Kiwis - we remember and acknowledge them all."
This year, Short will be joined at Pukeahu by his ADF counterpart General Angus Campbell.
"It is an honour to spend Anzac Day in New Zealand. The Australian Defence Force is proud to continue our long and deep history of service alongside our close neighbour and ally New Zealand, in support of a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," Campbell said.
"Anzac Day holds a very special place in the bond between Australia and New Zealand; it symbolises the enduring importance of our shared military history and commemorates the courage and sacrifice of those who have contributed to the freedom of our nations."
Meanwhile, in Australia, the NZDF will be represented in services across every state and territory in the lead up to and on Anzac Day.
Military advisor to the New Zealand High Commission in Canberra, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Mutu, said the importance of the ADF and NZDF relationship cannot be underestimated.
"The ANZAC spirit forged during the landings at Gallipoli is as strong now as it was then. Further, the broader defence relationship is one that is open, based on mutual respect and is enduring," he said.
Further afield, an NZDF contingent, along with personnel from other nations who contributed to the battles on the Gallipoli Peninsula in World War I, will be gathering in Türkiye, where they'll be holding several roles in commemorative events.
In the Republic of Korea, 12 NZDF personnel deployed to the UN Command and its Military Armistice Commission will attend a joint Australian and New Zealand dawn service at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul.
Three NZ Army officers posted to the UN Mission in South Sudan will gather in Juba for Anzac Day, where they will hold a short service followed by breakfast alongside their ADF colleagues. Anzac biscuits are rare, if not impossible to find in South Sudan - but local caterers have risen to the challenge of baking their own.
In the UK, NZDF personnel who are training Armed Forces of Ukraine recruits will conduct a service at Codford Cemetery in Wiltshire, where 66 New Zealanders from World War I are buried. The service will include representatives from the NZDF, UK, Australia and Ukraine.
The four personnel serving with the multinational Solomon Islands International Assistance Force will attend a dawn service in Honiara, while personnel deployed to the Middle East will attend commemorations with their ADF counterparts in the region.
