NZ marks centenary of end to World War I
The bells rang out, horns blasted – the time for quiet reflection was over.
New Zealanders across the country marked a century since the end of World War I with a mixture of silence and noise.
Wellington did its part yesterday – Armistice Day – to remember the thousands of New Zealanders who died in the Great War with a 100-gun salute from the Wellington Waterfront.
Then at 11am, dignitaries including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and GovernorGeneral Dame Patsy Reddy observed two minutes of silence at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington.
And in an echo of what happened when the news reached Wellington a century ago that the war was over, the capital erupted into a cacophony of celebratory noise. The carillon bells chimed out, ferries in the harbour sounded their horns, and emergency services were allowed to use their sirens.
Following the speeches at Pukeahu came the choreographed He Wawa¯ Waraki: Roaring Chorus 2018 – a commissioned piece of performance to mark 100 years since the world went into an, albeit brief, moment of peace. It was on November 11, 1918 – at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – when the guns fell silent in Europe and what would become known as World War I ended.
During the previous four years, the war had claimed the lives of 18,058 of the 98,950 New Zealanders who served overseas. Nine per cent of Kiwis served. ‘‘After fifty-one months of continuous cannon-roar, the enemy war-spirit has flickered away into silence, and throughout the tortured lands of France and Belgium the guns are dumb,’’ The Evening Post said the day after the good news arrived.
‘‘So used had the world grown to the din of warfare, that the ensuing silence is almost stunning; and it may take some little time to get used to peace, just as it did to get used to war.’’
Dame Patsy Reddy told those gathered in Wellington yesterday that by November 1918, New Zealanders had endured four long years of war, and some families had lost two, three or even four sons. When the GovernorGeneral at the time, Lord Liverpool, announced the signing of the Armistice from the steps of the Parliamentary Library, the news spread like wildfire. ‘‘And just as in many other countries – people spilled out into the streets, wild with joy,’’ Reddy said.
In Christchurch yesterday, about 2000 people gathered for a service at the Bridge of Remembrance. And despite rain, more than 1500 people gathered at Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Cenotaph to pay their respects.