WOMEN IN THE FRONT LINE Poppy Day: Women’s service in spotlight
From catching pirates to war zones: New Zealand’s military women are the focus of this year’s Poppy Day on Friday. Videographer Patrick Bronte has heard more than the average person’s share of stories of courage, sacrifice and determination including that of Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Childs, pictured, who was fulfilling a role with the United Nations in South Sudan when a displaced persons camp came under fire.
After 17-odd years of interviewing more than 400 veterans, Patrick Bronte has heard more than the average person’s share of stories of courage, sacrifice and determination.
But it has only been during the past few years when interviewing female members of the military that he became aware of the tenacity required of them to succeed and excel in a maledominated arena.
This year’s annual RSA Poppy Appeal, on Friday, is highlighting the experiences of women and the military – and none could be more chuffed than Bronte, who has made it his life’s work to record and detail the experiences of New Zealand’s service men and women. The Palmerston North-based man runs website ngatoa.co.nz, on which he is collating videos of the interviews he has recorded over the years.
Over the next few weeks the Returned Services Association will be releasing interviews conducted by Bronte with six women. Aged between 27 and 60, these women have served in peacekeeping deployments in Bosnia, Bougainville, East Timor, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Mali.
They range in rank from corporal to colonel and all but two are still in the armed forces.
‘‘We are talking about remarkable acts, regardless of gender. Acts that saved innocent lives in the face of extreme danger and intense pressure. It was a great eye-opener for me, seeing the contribution made by women in the NZDF,’’ Bronte said.
Among those interviewed was Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Childs, who was fulfilling a role with the United Nations in South Sudan when a displaced persons camp came under fire.
‘‘These people are fleeing this war zone, and fleeing to come into the UN compound because they see that as safe. We had some of our troop-contributing countries pushing these people away, basically into a very unsafe location,’’ Childs told Bronte.
‘‘I remember trying to talk to one of the officers from the contributing country that were responsible for this particular part of the perimeter, and I was trying to explain that we need to let these people in, and we need to protect them. He couldn’t understand a word I was saying. He pulled out his phone and gave me his phone, so I could type it into Google Translate,’’ she said.
‘‘So I’m typing in my message to him on a smartphone while the artillery is coming in. It was just very surreal.’’
Bronte also interviewed Samantha Carter, the first female petty officer seaman combat specialist in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Carter was posted on counter-narcotic and anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden on board the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Melbourne. She spoke of boarding a small boat and apprehending a group of pirates that had fired at a merchant vessel. The nine pirates were held on the frigate for three days.
‘‘We found out they were from Somalia, so we headed back to the coast and were going to drop them off at the nearest town or village we could see. We saw heaps of vehicles coming down towards the beach ... We got back to the ship and there was this picture of vehicles with machine guns and people lying down with guns pointing towards us ... I have been training my whole career for something like this,’’ she said.