Defence Force

Journalist Nicky Hager has launched a scathing attack on the Defence Force during a presentation to the Operation Burnham Inquiry in Wellington today.

The Battles of Cassino in 1944 were the last significant fights involving New Zealanders in World War II and are being commemorated in Italy today.

Previously classified documents released by the inquiry into Operation Burnham show the NZDF thought civilians may have been killed in the days following an attack in Afghanistan.

Vietnam War veterans are today being flown to a reunion in the same airforce C-130 Hercules they flew to Vietnam in 50 years ago.

The Afghanistan villagers at the heart of the Operation Burnham Inquiry may never have an opportunity to personally tell their stories about an incident in their town involving the NZ Defence Force.

Organisers say disruptions caused by late Easter and security precautions could have contributed to lower turn-outs at services across Auckland.

Concerns over a so-called "insider threat" are being blamed for a ban on New Zealanders joining the Australian Defence Force.

An Anzac Day service has gone ahead at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli, with extra security precautions, after the arrest of a man who had allegedly planned a terrorist attack.

Christchurch's younger generation is showing its appreciation for those who have served their country, with one seven-year-old baking Anzac cookies for local veterans.

Veterans say they aren't always the first to put their hands up for help, but extra government funds will provide much-needed services.

In the three years since Te Papa's Gallipoli exhibition opened the crowds have kept coming - so it will stay on.

An additional $4.1 million over four years will go towards health and wellbeing assessments to ensure veterans have ongoing support after leaving the Defence Force.

Police say that while there's no specific threat to Anzac Day on Thursday, security will be tight.

Two sexual abuse survivors from Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch have spoken publicly about the horrors they endured.

Afghanistan villagers, who claim to have lost relatives in a military operation involving New Zealand soldiers, need to be front and centre of an inquiry into the incident, a lawyer says.

No Anzac Day services planned in the Waitaki District will be changed this year, but the council is working with police to provide a heightened level of security, the mayor says.