Richard Wilkins becomes emotional as he reflects on his family’s connection to the Anzac legacy

Richard Wilkins became emotional as he discussed his family’s connection to the Anzac legacy on Saturday.

Ahead of Anzac Day on Sunday, the national day of remembering Australians and New Zealanders ‘who served and died in all wars’, he discussed his father and grandfather’s military roles.

The 66-year-old revealed on Weekend Today that he was recently talking to his sister about their grandfather who went to Gallipoli, Turkey, in World War One. 

His grandfather, George William Thomson, was a qualified dentist was part of the New Zealand medical corps and tended to injured and dying soldiers.

A black and white photo of his father appeared on screen, causing the TV host to hold back his emotions.

‘That’s my dad there, who was in Vancouver learning to be a pilot in 1944, aged 21. Amazing. I hadn’t seen him for some time,’ he proudly said.

Emotional: Then a black and white photo of his father appeared on screen, causing the TV host to hold back his emotions. ‘That’s my dad there, who was in Vancouver learning to be a pilot in 1944, aged 21. Amazing. I hadn’t seen him for some time,’ he proudly said 

Returning to talk about his conversation with his sister about their grandfather, Richard continued: ‘She found one (photo) of my grandfather off to war and his mother sending him away. It’s all there, amazing.’

‘It’s a great time for all of us to reflect I think a little bit,’ he told his co-host Jayne Azzopardi.

Richard previously visited Gallipoli in 2015 with Today to mark the sombre occasion and pay his respects to the fallen.

‘It’s quite overwhelming’: Richard visited Gallipoli in 2015 with Today to mark the sombre occasion and pay his respects to the fallen

Memories: Richard told Daily Mail Australia at the time of his immense pride at the role his grandfather played and at seeing the medals and reading his diary at the war memorial in Auckland. Pictured is Richard with his grandfather George

He said at the time: ‘It’s quite overwhelming, I was keeping a stiff upper lip until tonight, when we visited a Turk memorial at Ari Burnu.’ 

‘When you’re working, when you are shooting a story, it’s about doing a piece and you’ve got to do it right, we are doing your job… but it just happens to be about your granddad, it changes things,’ he added. 

Richard also spoke to Daily Mail Australia at the time of his immense pride at the role his grandfather played and at seeing the medals and reading his diary at the war memorial in Auckland.

‘It was something I thought about doing for some time because I was aware he was a young dentist, straight out of uni, who had enlisted in the war went to Egypt and found himself here at Gallipoli, helping to mend soldiers so they could continue to serve,’ he said.

Family history: He said, ‘It was something I thought about doing for some time because I was aware he was a young dentist, straight out of uni, who had enlisted in the war went to Egypt and found himself here at Gallipoli, helping to mend soldiers so they could continue to serve’