A hundred years after families stood on Niue's cliffs watching 150 men depart for foreign shores, the nation has once again wept together remembering their part in the First World War.
Crowds stood in silence in the capital Alofi on Tuesday as the Union Jack, New Zealand and Niuean flags were raised together at the shore, the sun setting on the nation's World War I centenary.
Speaking to hundreds - in a country where the population is barely in the thousands - New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the departure of the men would have had an enormous impact on the small nation.
"Standing here today, it is hard to imagine a contrast more stark than the natural beauty and tranquillity of Niue and the horrors of the war that awaited them," he said.
"What we cannot deny is the immense bravery of men who left their homes on this beautiful island to face unimaginable hardship."
As two cenotaphs overlooking the calm water were unveiled, Premier Toke Talagi said it was appropriate for a New Zealand delegation to be at the ceremony, given the links the countries shared in the war.
"It was almost as if a generation had stopped," he said.
But while the haka, laying of reefs, marching parades and minute of silence reinforced the deep sense of respect between nations, it was a church service beforehand that hit at the heart of what the Niuean soldiers gave up.
Children stared wide-eyed from the pews while many of their parents choked back tears as a series of speakers described the battalion's struggles with foreign language, food, climates and the illnesses that claimed the lives of 19 of their men.
Even just wearing shoes was torture for most of the men, they said.
Breaking the sombre mood, Reverend Vilikamupala Viviani commented on the good fortune that Niue's men were spared combat - having been sent home in 1916.
"My grandfather saw nine Germans. Nine," he said to a burst of laughter.
The people of Niue didn't learn of the war until September 1914, but joined the war less than 24 hours later.
"I am the island of Niue, a small child that stands up to help the Kingdom of King George," the reply read.
Of the 150 soldiers that left on October 13, 1915, 126 eventually made it to Egypt and France.
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