Anzac Day New Plymouth, New Zealand: Moment dawn service attendees join forces to lift and move a car with their bare hands so the memorial could begin
A video has been circulating of the moment a group of visitors to the Anzac Day morning service gathered to lift and move a small car, preventing the commemoration from starting.
The scene was captured during the Anzac Day morning service in New Plymouth, New Zealand and posted to a Ngāmotu Facebook community page by Reuben Doyle.
In the clip, around 15 attendees were seen gathering around the small Mitsubishi hatchback before joining forces to lift the car and move it two meters away to allow access to those involved in the service.
As reported by Radio New Zealand, New Plymouth RSA president and veteran Graham Chard was heard calling for men to join the effort to move the car.
“Kia ora whānau, do we have muscle men there please? We need a pair of hands. Come on, the more hands the better – let’s go!’ Mr. Chard announced it through the speaker.
The service was called to help move a car that was parked in ‘the worst possible spot’.
Since the car’s owner could not be found, police allowed people to lift the car and take it away
The car stopped people from taking part in the Anzac Day Dawn Service
“We need some more hands, come on, whānau.”
Chard told the media that the car was parked in the ‘worst possible spot’.
“It was right at the bottom of the stairs leading to the speakers, right in the middle of where the wreath layers come out to get their wreaths,” he said.
‘[The car was] right in the middle where the lights for the crosses and the flags were placed, so people couldn’t actually go upstairs to do their part of the service.”
The decision to simply move the car was made after the vehicle’s owner could not be found and finding a tow truck “at 5am on Anzac is difficult”, Mr Chard said.
Dawn Services saw big crowds in Australia and New Zealand this year (photo, Coogee Service, Sydney)
Young and old got into the spirit of Anzac Day, which honors all the men and women who sacrificed their lives so that Australians could live in freedom
Australian and New Zealanders made the pilgrimage to Gallipoli in Turkey in large numbers to commemorate our fallen heroes
“We identified a few police officers who were preparing to march in the parade, we have the authority to be able to move the car… and mobilized as many people as we needed to be able to pick up the car and to move. far enough away.’
The group effort came as Australians and New Zealanders turned up in large numbers for morning services to mark Anzac Day.
Large numbers also turned up for official Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli in Turkey and on French battlefields.