"One of the soldiers told me he was on parade when the choir started singing the New Zealand national anthem, he said he nearly lost it, his emotions were overwhelming him," he said.

"You do get a feeling of pride knowing that there are people in our community who ensure that the Anzac spirit survives."

Mr Richards said little had changed in preparations for the deeply traditional ceremony in its centenary year outside of the logistics.

"We were extremely conscious of managing a large group of people and we certainly did a lot of homework with the Dragon City Marshals and lots of other people who were involved," he said.

"Anyone who has a little task to do we went over that several times to make sure that things would flow smoothly."

Korean War veteran John Munro, who laid the wreath for the 38th Battalion, said he was very impressed with the turnout.

"From our point of view to look down and see all those people standing and looking at you and clapping their hands is fantastic," he said. "It really brings a bit of a lump to the throat at times."

The guest speaker at the service was Brigadier Steven Lee, AM (retired) who spoke of the bond formed at Gallipoli between Australians and New Zealanders which endures to this day.

"100 years ago today our first Anzacs came ashore onto the rugged terrain of the Gallipoli peninsula," he said.

"It is right and proper that we take time today to reflect on the friendship with that nation that was side by side with us on that first Anzac Day."

Faces Of Anzacs: Check out our great interactive at www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/faces-of-anzacs/