Anzac stirs memories of war’s cost
Medals at service honour long-lost soldier from WWI
Lyle Haste once bought a box of rusty bolts at a clearing sale from a farm in Dannevirke. In amongst those bolts were medals, awarded to a man who lost his life in World War I.
No one really knows who George William Pierce was, other than that he came to New Zealand from Bristol and worked on a dairy farm.
He was 34 when he was killed in July 1915 and buried at sea.
But Haste said he wore the medals at the Anzac service in honour of the man, and in the hope of finding someone, a family member, who could claim those medals.
He believes Pierce had a sister.
Nigel Brewin, a former Defence Force warrant officer who now lives in Dannevirke, offered a different perspective at the Civic Service.
He said that like many who came to the services he would hear the Ode of Remembrance. “At which point we’ll say . . . we will remember them. What does this mean?”
He had a story which he hoped would resonate with a few as well as answer the question for many others.
His great-grandfather, John Joseph Brewin, went to war in 1916 and didn’t come home — he died of his wounds in a hospital in France.
The only thing that came back out of his belongings was a pocket watch.
“No one in the family ever made it to France to visit the grave. It was just too much to bear.”
Years later, Brewin would take his father to France to visit the grave. “I pulled out my great-grandfather’s medals and placed them on the grave.
“My father, ice-cool, unbreakable warrior that he was . . . broke into tears [and] I understood what ‘we will remember them’ means.
“You don’t have to have known the fallen to remember them.”
Dannevirke’s dawn service and civic service were wellattended.
Captain Richard Short, president of the Dannevirke and Districts Returned and Services Association (RSA), opened the dawn service with a special acknowledgement of the only remaining veteran of World War II, Ivan (Bonny) Bodley.
Each service included a prayer and dedication by Reverend Jinny Kean, who said Anzac Day was an acknowledgement of the costs of war.
It was the 106th anniversary of the first Anzac Day, she said. “The day that our nation remembers all those who have served in the defence of our country during times of war.”
She said it was not a glorification of war but a time when the nation remembered with gratefulness and respect those who had lost their lives.
Many young men from the Tararua district had answered the call to defend “King and Country”.
“Sadly, many did not return.”
Short pointed out to the teenagers the Field of Remembrance, telling them most of the crosses were for lowranking soldiers. “It is so often the privates that sacrifice themselves for their society in the highest numbers.
He urged the young to learn from history and their elders.
“We all must remember that war is a horrific event, powerful enough that it can draw us together 100 years later in commemoration. We must be careful in dealing with war, as future wars will be no less horrific.”
He said NZ had service personnel
deployed to eight places around the world. Some would be away from their families for more than nine months. Fifty-seven were in Europe supporting the Ukraine war effort.
Short said millions of people in Ukraine were now homeless as a result of the war. “We must do our bit, and it starts with remembering.”
Wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph by the council, schools, police, the fire service and other community groups.
Commemorations began with the Mane Men playing Anzac songs at the Dannevirke Lion’s Den on Saturday.
The Dannevirke services were only two of several being held across the Tararua district.