text: 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.
target: Veteran TV presenter Richard Wilkins 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'