French village exalts brave WWI Kiwis
Pokarekare ana and La Marseillaise floated through the chill Flanders air above rows of New Zealand graves in the village of Le Quesnoy during the first Anzac Day service of the year.
Every year since 1923 the people of this small village in northern France have marked Anzac Day on the Sunday before April 25. They have never forgotten the 135 men from the uttermost ends of the earth who lost their lives in a daring and deadly assault on November 4, 1918. Killed just a week before Armistice Day, they were among the last lost in the Great War.
About 200 people gathered at dawn on the frost-covered lawn between the graves and memorial for the fallen.
Speeches and odes were read, wreaths were laid, and the Last Post and Reveille were played, but it was the waiata by the Defence Force Maori cultural group and the national anthems by Leading Aircraftsman Barbara Graham that really brought gravitas to this little piece of France.
The town’s mayor, Marie Sophie Lesne, said the people would never forget the sacrifice made by such a small nation so far away.
’’We will always be very grateful to the men from your country for liberating our town. They rest here with us and our bond is very strong with New Zealand. It will never be forgotten,’’ she said.
In November 1918 the village was surrounded by NZ infantry troops, who despite orders from on high, were determined not to use shells for fear of killing some of the 3000 inhabitants who had been under German occupation since the start of the war in 1914.
The only way to free the town was to scale the eight-metre high medieval ramparts that circled it. Under intense fire the men used a ladder to scale the wall in single file and stormed into the town. The Germans surrendered and not a single civilian died.
New Zealand and French flags fly side by side on the town’s streets, which bear names like Rue Neo-zelandais and Rue All Blacks, and the dawn service is followed by a march through town with a crowd of 300 headed by a brass band and flagbearers carrying both nations’ flags.
Wellingtonian Murray Logan was making his third visit to the town. Three of his great-uncles, brothers Johnny, Frank and Tom Moore took part in the assault.
‘‘It’s such an important event in our history, the liberation of Le Quesnoy, and I don’t think it has ever really had the attention it deserves.
‘‘The same could be said of the Kiwi troops’ experience on the Western Front. Of the 18,000 we lost in the First World War, more than 12,000 of them died here,’’ Logan said.
‘‘A lot is owed to these men, by us and by the people who live here. It’s great to see them get the sort of recognition and respect they are owed. It’s a very special day for both countries.’’