New Passchendaele war memorial unveiled in Wellington

Commemorations for the Battle of Passchendaele, New Zealand's greatest tragedy, took place on Thursday.

It's been 100 years since a total of 845 New Zealanders were killed in a matter of hours on October 12, 1917.

Another 1900 were wounded near a Belgian village called Passchendaele during World War I while trying to capture German positions.

Europe Correspondent Tova O'Brien is in Passchendaele for the centenary commemorations, and there are commemorations across the country.

Live updates have now ended.

4.30pm - Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy says the new memorial "proffers a message of hope, peace and tolerance".

4.05pm - The new memorial has just been unveiled at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Designed by Belgian artists Niko Van Stichel and Lut Vandebos, it combines the symbolism of the laurel wreath, traditionally used as a symbol of victory, and the memorial wreath, traditionally used to pay tribute to those who have died in battle. The underlying message is that there are no winners in war.

New Passchendaele war memorial unveiled in Wellington
Photo credit: Newshub/ Giles Dexter
New Passchendaele war memorial unveiled in Wellington
Photo credit: Newshub/ Giles Dexter

3.44pm - A wreathlaying ceremony is now underway, before the memorial is unveiled. Following the ceremony the daily Last Post will take place at the memorial at 5.00pm.

3.35pm - His Excellency Mr Marc Mullie, Ambassador of Belgium, read an extract from a letter NZ soldier, Private Leonard Hart, from 19 Oct 1917.

New Passchendaele war memorial unveiled in Wellington
Photo credit: Newshub/ Giles Dexter

3.27pm -  Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy has opened the national ceremony and Belgian memorial unveiling in Wellington. Also in attendance is the Ambassador of Belgium Marc Mullie, the Vice Chief of Defence Force air vice-marshal Kevin Short and Colonel Bruno Malvaux from the Belgian Defence Force.

3.15pm - US Ambassador to New Zealand Scott Brown is attending the commemoration in Wellington. "Important day for remembering the fallen in this NZ battle," he said.

3.10pm - In Wellington, a national commemoration is underway at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. A new memorial will be unveiled shortly - it is being gifted to New Zealand by the Belgian Government.

3.00pm - The Auckland War Memorial Museum's Online Cenotaph is remembering the New Zealand soldiers killed at Passchendaele by tweeting each of their names.

Tweeting one name each minute, it will take 14 hours.