Capital lays to rest an unknown warrior
IT WAS a project 80 years in the making and when it finally happened Wellington’s tribute to an unknown soldier went off flawlessly.
‘‘Dignified and solemn, smooth and seamless – there were no gaffes or embarrassing hitches. It was a remarkable effort pulled off by a cast of thousands shedding more than their share of sweat and tears,’’ The Dominion Post reported on November 13, 2004.
After ‘‘decades of inertia and indifference to an idea first raised in the 1920s’’ the final push began in 2001 when Prime Minister Helen Clark threw her weight behind the idea after inspiration from war historian Ian McGibbon.
He had suggested to her at a book launch a tomb of an unknown warrior would ‘‘play a part in establishing national identity’’.
‘‘And at the end of it all there was a round of mutual congratulations. Returned servicemen praised Prime Minister Helen Clark for putting her weight behind a project they had wanted for decades and Miss Clark in turn thanked her public servants and particularly the military who carried it off with such aplomb,’’ the newspaper reported.
The tomb was designed, then redesigned after an Environment Court challenge, and the forecourt and steps were rebuilt at what is now the Pukeahu National War Memorial.
New Zealand’s Unknown Warrior was exhumed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 2004 from France’s Caterpillar Valley Cemetery and laid to rest on Armistice Day 2004.
A total of 29,967 New Zealanders were killed over both World Wars, and about 9000 remain unidentified either in common graves or in ‘‘Known unto God’’ Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves.
Scores of personnel were brought into Operation Valhalla – named after the mythological Norse palace in which the souls of slain heroes feast for eternity – under the command of Lieutenant Colonel David Russell.
‘‘They planned and drilled, as only the military do: Defence Chief Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, echelons of senior officers, the pallbearers, the bandsmen, the cultural party, the privates, the able seamen, the airmen and cadets, those who stood guard, the marchers and the drivers.’’
An air force Boeing 757 flew a 90-strong contingent to Europe to repatriate the casket and more than 350 personnel were brought to the capital from around the country for the two days of ceremonies.
It wasn’t cheap with the bill running to about $3.5 million.
Refurbishing the National War Memorial cost about $2.9m, of which about $250,000 was spent on the tomb itself.
‘‘Cost doesn’t come into this,’’ Russell said. ‘‘We had 30,000 killed in all conflicts and 27,000 are buried offshore and so many of the families have no opportunity to visit their graves. Here we have brought back an unknown warrior representing all our forces. I can’t put a price on that.’’ GET THE BOOK The Dominion Post – 150 Years of News is available via dompost.co.nz or 0800 50 50 90. Priced at $34.95 + $3 postage and handling or $29.95 + $3 p&h for subscribers.