When Wanganui veterans gather at 5.20am next Saturday morning, they will not just be marking the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli.
New Zealand's first ever Anzac Day dawn parade was held in Wanganui, and next Saturday will be the 80th anniversary of that historic moment.
The dawn parade - now a popular tradition across the country - began after members from Wanganui RSA travelled to Australia and attended a dawn parade there.
They were impressed enough to bring the idea back home and in 1935 Wanganui former servicemen started what has now become part of Anzac Day protocol.
A 1939 issue of the now defunct Evening Post newspaper stated that a Mr Howell had "the distinction of suggesting a dawn parade, held at Wanganui in 1935 - the first to be held by returned men in New Zealand".
"It was started four years ago with a muster of 32 which grew last year to 147. The holding of the parade was adopted from Australia," the newspaper article said.
It was only in 1939 that other towns and cities took up the dawn parade tradition, following Wanganui's lead.
With the centenary of the landings at Gallipoli during World War I this year, Wanganui RSA manager Kyle Dalton said large numbers were expected for Saturday's dawn parade. Because of the difficulty some veterans have in marching up to the cenotaph, its location has been changed to the forecourt of the War Memorial Centre.
The Maori Service at 11am will also be held at the forecourt of the War Memorial Centre.