ANZAC ceremony returns to Cannock Chase cemetery after three year hiatus
AFTER a three-year suspension, the annual ANZAC ceremony at Cannock Chase Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery has been organised for Sunday, April 24. The last time the ceremony took place was in April 2019, because in 2020 it was cancelled as the country went into lockdown.
During the last three years, members of the public have still visited the cemetery for the personal, low-key laying of tributes and wreaths, in order to maintain continuity for the ceremony.
There are several Australian airmen buried at cemeteries in Cannock, Hixon and Stafford as well as 73 New Zealand soldiers buried at the Cannock CWGC cemetery, most of them victims of the 1918 ‘Spanish Influenza’ pandemic that resulted in tens of millions dying across the world.
The ANZAC ceremony commemorates the sacrifices of Australian and New Zealand soldiers (ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) during the Great War. The British landings in late April 1915 along the coast at Gallipoli in
Local people took it upon themselves to place floral tributes on each grave
modern-day Turkey, including locations such as Anzac Cove, involved many ANZAC troops.
Anzac Day is on April 25 and at Cannock Chase the nearest Sunday to the actual date is selected for the ceremony, which nowadays commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.
The 5th (Reserve) Battalion of the 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade was based at Brocton from September 1917 and the New Zealand troops conducted the first ANZAC ceremony at Cannock Chase in April 1918. The brigade left the camp in June 1919, after a flag exchange ceremony in Stafford town centre.
One other ‘New Zealander’ is also buried on Cannock Chase – Freda, the brigade’s Harlequin Great Dane mascot, who ‘inspected’ the men on the parade ground and also accompanied the men on route marches across Cannock Chase. Her granite headstone that marks her grave near the parade ground, provided by the Friends of Cannock Chase, is about a mile from the CWGC cemetery.
The year following the departure of the men, local people took it upon themselves to place floral tributes on each grave and to pause for a two minutes’ silence to reflect on the sacrifice made by those who had travelled ‘from the uttermost ends of the earth’ and did not return home. This commemoration has continued ever since in various formats, even when officially suspended in World War II.
Cannock Chase CWGC cemetery is the first cemetery in the world where Dolores Cross cross/poppies were placed on each New Zealand grave by members of the Chase Project. The cross/poppies are hand-made in New Zealand from locally sourced flax, harvested from the Harakeke plant. This year a new supply of crosses has been sent over especially for the event.
The Drum Head Service on Sunday, April 24, has been organised by the Stafford branch of the Royal British Legion. The service will be conducted by the RBL County Chaplain,
Reverend John Davies.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gardeners have been working hard over the past few weeks to ensure the cemetery is immaculate for the ceremony.
The Bike Riders for the RBL will be out in force. Other groups attending include the Western Front Association’s Wolverhampton branch, the Chase Project Group, Rugeley’s Landor Society, various cadet groups, and Friends of Cannock Chase. For the Staffordshire Regiment mascot Watchman VI and handler Greg Hedges, it will be the first ANZAC ceremony since taking over the role. The musical accompaniment will be as usual provided by Rugeley’s Lea Hall Brass Band, plus the Mercian (V) Corps of Drums.
During the Great War two large military camps, Brocton and Rugeley, were constructed across Cannock Chase from 1915. There was also a prisoner-of-war camp with its own hospital containing over 1,200 beds, and two local military hospitals, at Rugeley and Brindley Common. There are over 200 Germans buried in the same cemetery who had died while in the nearby prisoner-of-war camp.
This year’s ceremony starts at 10.45am. All visitors are asked to arrive by 10.20am. There is limited parking at the cemetery, which will be available only to invited guests and disabled ‘Blue Badge’ holders. It is recommended that anyone wishing to attend should arrive and park at a nearby ‘overspill’ car park at around 10am as walking from it will take just over five minutes.
The cemetery is located near the crossroads of Broadhurst Green and Penkridge Bank Road, Hednesford, Staffordshire, WS12 4PT.