Armistice Day: ‘peace is fragile’
A national commemoration and the cleaning of veterans’ graves marked the 104th year since news reached Wellington that World War I was over.
About 100 veterans, their families, active service people and representatives from across New Zealand gathered for the national commemoration service held at the capital’s Pukeahu National War Memorial Park yesterday.
‘‘We are reminded that peace is a fragile thing, when conflict, discrimination and the terrors of war dominate daily for many around the globe,’’ Veterans’ Affairs Minister Meka Whaitiri said in her commemorative address.
An estimated 16,000 New Zealand soldiers were killed and 40,000 more injured during combat in Europe during the four-year war – a higher casualty rate per capita than any other country involved.
Whaitiri, National MP Tim van de Molen, Chief of Defence Air Marshal Kevin Short, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Ahmad Salem Alwehaib, RSA national president Sir Wayne Shelford, and VC winner Willie Apiata laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
Shelford and Apiata also read the ode of remembrance in te reo Māori and English.
Whaitiri also said in her speech that although the number of veterans of all wars grow fewer with time, their mana ‘‘endures and passes through the generations’’.
‘‘We also remember the bravery of all
New Zealanders who served in subsequent wars and conflicts and who trod a heavy path towards peace,’’ she said.
Afterwards, she snipped weeds, brushed away branches and dried mud, and stuck a new poppy on the headstones of two graves – Robert James ‘Bob’ Ballantyne and John Halliday Brown – at Karori Cemetery. She was joined by the New Zealand Remembrance Army’s
chairperson Heather Roy and chief executive Simon Strombom.
Ballantyne, who served with the 16th Reinforcements of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, died three days after the truce was signed, aged just 25; Brown, a colour sergeant of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, died at 61 in April 1919.
Roy, who was an associate defence
minister between 2008 and 2010, thought November 11 was about remembering those who fought for New Zealand’s freedoms and those who died for it.
‘‘It’s a time to acknowledge and recognise the sacrifice that those who went before us have made,’’ she said. ‘‘I had plenty of family members who served ... It’s just making sure that they and their sacrifices for us aren’t forgotten.’’