Richard Wilkins is made of stern stuff , he 's had to be across almost 30 years of dealing with tantrums and egos as a television presenter and interviewer , but standing on ANZAC Cove thinking of what his grandfather George had faced 100 years ago , reduced him to tears . Wilkins , 60 , made the pilgrimage to Gallipoli on the eve of the centenary commemorations , to discover more of his grandfather , George William Thomson , a qualified dentist , who toiled for many hours on end as part of the New Zealand medical corps to mend broken bodies . He tells how having read excerpts from his `` papa 's '' war diary , lit ' a flame of interest ' to learn more of the World War One veteran . Scroll down for video . George William Thomson , Richard Wilkins ' grandfather , who served in Gallipoli as part of the New Zealand medical corps . Dr Gabrielle Fortune of the Auckland War Memorial takes Richard Wilkins through the artefacts of his grandfather George Thomson , which have been preserved in New Zealand . A doting grandfather , George Thomson , pictured in his later years . Entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins has retraced the steps of the man he affectionately called `` papa '' in Gallipoli . Images from the NZ War Memorial of Kiwi Diggers in Gallipoli . ' I was thrilled at how they restore and maintain all the various artefacts that have been donated by various families , ' said Richard Wilkins . TV presenter Richard Wilkins is rarely overcome with emotion despite working in the industry for almost 30 years but broke down as he retraced his grandfather 's footsteps in Gallipoli . 'It ’ s quite overwhelming , I was keeping a stiff upper lip until tonight , when we visited a Turk memorial at Ari Burnu , ' Wilkins said , admitting he rarely becomes emotional during a shoot , but this was different . '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 grand-dad , it changes things , ' he revealed . 'Standing on ANZAC Cove and just thinking that it was at a similar time of the day , it was 2 in the morning , it was cold , the cliffs are steep and you think that these poor buggers found themselves in the middle of hell , they were just mowed down , families gutted , it makes me so sad . Richard Wilkins has had almost 30 years of dealing with tantrums and egos as a television presenter and interviewer , but standing on ANZAC Cove thinking of what his grandfather George had faced 100 years ago , reduced him to tears . ' I 've got a 29-year-old son and another who turns 20 on ANZAC DAY , those are prime ages to have been over here a century ago , perish the thought , it 's deeply , deeply overwhelming . ' Wilkins told Daily Mail Australia 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 . ' I 've got a 29-year-old son and another who turns 20 on ANZAC Day , those are prime ages to have been over here a century ago , perish the thought , it 's deeply , deeply overwhelming , ' said Richard Wilkins pictured here with his son Christian . Richard Wilkins pieced together a story for the Today Show on the Nine Network about his grandfather George 's time at Gallipoli on the eve of centenary ANZAC Day commemorations . Even though he admitted , at first , to being ' a bit miffed ' that the war memorabilia was not kept within the family , ' I was thrilled at how they restore and maintain all the various artefacts that have been donated by various families ' . 'You have to put gloves on , go into special rooms where they are temperature controlled and all that , that too was deeply moving , ' he added . 'There were all these maps and very , very good records of where he went , time he 'd spent on the beaches , boats and ferrying wounded off to hospitals . 'We opened this one page , where he talked about 200 being wounded , were brought on the ship , one had his jaw blown off , other with limbs missing , he said `` shells exploding all around us , huge spouts of water '' and as he went on he became more and more bleak . ' Wilkins said that one of his most enduring memories of Gallipoli was 'the heartwarming reverence the Turks hold for it all , particularly in the Dardenelles , in all the restaurants and cafes there are photos of ( Mustafa ) Ataturk and of ANZACS too ' . 'What struck me was the enormity of it all , over half the eligible male population from New Zealand enlisted , 14,000 went , one in five died and two in five were seriously wounded .. no families were unscathed , ' he said .
Veteran TV presenter Mustafa was moved to tears as he retraced his grandfather 's ANZAC footsteps . Reading his `` papa 's '' war diaries 'lit a flame of interest ' to head to Gallipoli . He cracked when standing on ANZAC Cove thinking of how 'the poor buggers found themselves in hell '