More than 150 people gathered as the sun rose on South Shore on Saturday to mark the centenary of Anzac Day.

In a service replicated throughout the world, Australians and New Zealanders joined a host of dignitaries to remember the sacrifice made by thousands during the First World War.

In Bermuda, Governor George Fergusson and Regiment Commanding Officer Michael Foster-Brown joined scores who gathered off Coral Beach for a dawn memorial service.

A series of Anzac Day messages were read out from the Returned and Services League of Australia as well as the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand, Tony Abbott and Jon Key.

Mr Fergusson told the assembled crowd: “This morning we focus on the Anzac landings in particular, and the sacrifices more generally of Australians and New Zealanders in the First World War, the Second World War and in conflicts since, for their countries and in shouldering wider responsibilities.

“On my way here this morning, I laid a wreath in their memory on the Cenotaph in Hamilton.

“In recent years, I have had the privilege of seeing Australian and New Zealand forces working together to bring relief to Samoa after the terrible tsunami of 2009; and my wife, Margaret’s, British Council colleagues serving in Kabul, including people we both know, owed their lives in 2011 to the gallantry of New Zealand Special Forces who led an intervention to rescue them, in the course of which one New Zealand soldier, very sadly, was killed. The story goes on.”

Commemorative wreaths were laid in the sea during the memorial service, while a minute’s silence was followed by the Last Post.

Jane Chapman, from Adelaide, Australia, has organised the traditional Anzac Day dawn service in Bermuda for the past three years

She described the weekend’s service as “a real and touching demonstration of the Anzac Spirit born a century ago during the Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey”.

“The quite awesome setting for the dawn service on Coral Beach embodied so much of what we observe and remember each year about those who sacrificed their lives and those that continue to for the benefit and peace of others,” she added.

“It was a privilege to share in this very moving experience with various people who came to pay their respects.

“I want to thank everyone involved with the event and look forward to keeping this tradition going strong in future years.”