Raglan’s elite Anzac gathering
Ron ‘Snow’ Collins stands front and centre of a small brigade preparing to march.
He is slight, compared to the two men flanking him on Wainui Rd in Raglan, both wearing the telltale grey beret of the NZSAS.
At 90, Collins is some four decades older than his compatriots – former Staff Sergeant Phil Hokianga and former trooper Stephen Pene.
Hokianga has made the trip from Hamilton, especially, to march with Collins. Pene, a Raglan local, fusses over Collins.
Raglan teems with people as the Anzac Parade kicks off – led by a brass band and a donkey – and Hokianga and Pene revere Collins.
‘‘It’s very special to me actually, today,’’ Collins says.
He is the first of an elite class. An NZSAS Original, recruited in 1955 when the elite fighting force was established as a part of New Zealand’s Defence Force.
When asked what his rank was, Collins’ answer is matter-of-fact.
‘‘Trooper,’’ Collins exclaims, as if there could be no other option.
‘‘I was one of the few that had never been in the forces before. I was a greenhorn so they had a field day with me. I think I was on charges every day for three months.’’
More than 100 soldiers were selected in the Originals.
Their rigid training took place at Waiouru before they were deployed immediately to Singapore and the Malayan Emergency which took place from 1948 to 1960.
‘‘We lived in the bush for three months. You got used to it and I quite liked it actually, in a way.’’
Sit among the NZSAS elite for a while and they’ll use words like ‘‘the unit’’ and ‘‘the group’’ and ‘‘the squadron’’ to describe themselves.
It’s a brotherhood like no other, spanning generations of NZDF soldiers, but there are few Originals still alive, Hokianga says.
When a soldier gets through selection and becomes part of the group, those who came before are their heroes.
‘‘To especially know what they have gone through and to especially know what he has gone through, to have him alive and with us today is a huge privilege.’’
The first command cried out as old soldiers, their children and grandchildren parade on Knox Street, Hamilton.
The colour guard, or flag bearers, wheeled around the front of the column and by the right, they quick marched to the beat of a drum.
Army, navy and air force, police and cadets made their walk across Hamilton’s Memorial Bridge, spanning the Waikato River, to the cenotaph followed by hundreds of the public.
Former air force Flight Sergeant Rob Ririnui was early to the commemoration but was quickly overtaken by a throng. The parade was already off the bridge and forming at Memorial Park – parents and toddlers, young men and women and older members of the community poured down the road from the north, east and west.
For 20 years Ririnui served as an aircraft technician, at Bougainville, East Timor and Afghanistan.
‘‘I’m here to support all of the guys, especially the ones who didn’t come back,’’ Ririnui said. ‘‘My uncle was in the Malayan war, Korea and Vietnam and he passed away four years ago now
. . . He’s in the back of my mind.’’
The hundreds gathered at Memorial Park on River Road stood for a minute’s silence in the cool Hamilton morning – men in warm hoodies with hands clasped behind them.
The origin of the Anzacs was remembered – a bloody eightmonth battle at Gallipoli with more than 36,000 Australia and New Zealand casualties and more than 10,000 deaths. In total, more than 130,000 people died on both sides of the battlefield. The Memorial Park monument, an ode to our nation’s fallen soldiers, was bathed in red light. Clouds dispersed slowly behind as the Australian and New Zealand national anthems rang out.
Alex Ward, 7, wore his great grandfather’s medals. He’d been learning about Anzacs at school and made Anzac biscuits.
Graeme Badger was a medic in Africa and Italy. His medals have been passed on to Alex’s mother, Michele Ward.
‘‘This is the first time we’ve had his medals’’ she said. ‘‘My father always took us to dawn services as children and it’s something we have always done. This is the boys’ first one.
‘‘It teaches them to respect past events and what it means for them now.’’
At 9.45am the city’s civic parade took place.
For the second time on Wednesday, 12-year-old Johanna Vreede marched towards Memorial Park.
Upon her shirt, she proudly wore her grandfather’s two Queen’s Service Medals.
Vreede is a member of the air cadets in Hamilton and it was her first time participating in Anzac Day commemorations.
Her grandfather Winston Sorensen was in the crowd, along with his wife Rose.
‘‘Wearing grandad’s medals is pretty special,’’ Vreede said
‘‘It’s special to be a part of the parade and walk down with the band and the crowd.’’
Rose also had medals pinned to her chest – from great-grandfather who fought in WWI.
Rose never met her greatgrandfather, but wearing his medals gives her a connection to him.
‘‘He’s around, he’s here,’’ Rose said.
Lieutenant-Colonel Don Oliver welcomed the crowd of hundreds at the service.
‘‘Although WWI took place 100 years ago, the importance of the sacrifice represented by the 330 white crosses and the poppies planted in this park has not lessened.
‘‘This Anzac Day let us focus on the price of freedom, those who paid that ultimate price and determined to live our lives worthy of such a high price.’’