Anzac Day 2010: Lest we forget
19 Apr 2010
ANZAC Day 2010 - nationwide
25 April 2010
New Zealanders around the globe are preparing to don their red poppies for the annual Anzac Day remembrance of fallen Kiwi war heroes.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and Australian soldiers on the Gallipoli peninsula - during WWI - on 25 April, 1915.
Gallipoli was the first major battle campaign undertaken by New Zealanders and Australians and resulted in an enormous loss of life.
International commemorations
Two Anzac ceremonies will take place at Gallipoli - the Turkish International Service on 24 April, and the New Zealand Service at Chunuk Bair on 25 April. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, and dignitaries from Australia and Turkey are scheduled to attend these services.
Kiwis in France will observe Anzac Day at Le Quesnoy, a town liberated by New Zealand soldiers near the end of WWI, and at Longueval, site of the New Zealand Memorial in the Somme.
Le Quesnoy was a German garrison town for four years during WWI before it was liberated in 1918 by members of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, who lost nearly 90 lives in the process.
The New Zealand Memorial at Longueval commemorates the New Zealand Division’s participation in the first battle of the Somme. Just a few minutes drive from Longueval, Caterpillar Valley Cemetery has the graves of 125 Kiwi soldiers.
New Zealand’s new Gallipoli
The small Wairarapa town of Tinui, near Masterton in the lower North Island, held New Zealand’s first Anzac Day commemoration on 25 April, 1916 - a year after the Gallipoli campaign had begun.
Tinui - dubbed New Zealand’s "new Gallipoli" by the New Zealand Air Force - celebrated the 90th anniversary of the first Anzac Day in 2006 with a full 21-gun salute by Kiwi soldiers.
For Anzac Day 2010, Tinui has revamped the area around the town hall and local cenotaph, or monument to fallen soldiers. About 600 people attended last year’s commemoration.
At nearby Hood Aerodrome, the ANZAC Day WWI Air Show will feature an afternoon of dogfights and tactical displays by WWI aircraft.
Anzac Day ceremonies
Outdoor dawn ceremonies are an Anzac Day tradition involving members of the armed services and local communities. Ceremonies typically feature a service, wreath-laying, playing of 'The Last Post', a silent tribute and conclude with the New Zealand and Australian national anthems.
In Wellington, official observances begin with a dawn ceremony, followed by a service and the national wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph, outside Parliament Buildings.
A dawn-to-dusk vigil will also take place at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, at New Zealand’s National War Memorial. The Unknown Warrior - repatriated from France in 2004 - was one of more than 9000 New Zealand servicemen who died in war and have no known grave.
An Anzac Day concert called ‘We’ll Meet Again’ will be held in the Wellington Town Hall, featuring guest artists and the Royal New Zealand Air Force band.
Rare war footage
Auckland Museum will screen rare footage of WWI, including some of the Gallipoli campaign, on the exterior of the landmark building.
A 95-year-old movie Heroes of Gallipoli - restored by Peter Jackson’s film company - is the main feature. The 20-minute movie has the only known moving images of WWI Anzac troops in Gallipoli. Projections on the northern façade of the building begin on 23 April.
Rare archival footage of New Zealand soldiers crossing the German frontier into Cologne, and the Māori Pioneer Battalion receiving a hero’s welcome home at the Auckland Domain in 1919 will also screen.
Visitors can also sign a digital "book of remembrance" inside the museum, and attend New Zealand’s biggest Anzac Day dawn service.
Anzac Day at Te Papa
Te Papa Tongarewa - New Zealand’s national museum in Wellington - is planning events to commemorate Anzac Day.
Kiwi historian Matthew Wright will discuss his book Behind Enemy Lines - a collection of stories told by New Zealand servicemen about their experiences in WWII. Four mini-documentaries from the ‘Tales from Te Papa’ series tell stories about objects from New Zealand’s military history.
Visitors will also get a chance to assemble their own Anzac badge and listen to stirring musical performances including the re-release of ’New Zealand’s first pop hit’ - Blue Smoke by Kiwi singer Shelley Hirini.
In Flanders fields
The red Flanders poppy was made famous by Lieutenant Colonel John McRae in his poem "In Flanders fields" - written after a close friend died during WWI. The red poppy became a symbol of remembrance for soldiers who fell in battle, and was adopted by Kiwis for Anzac Day in 1922. The modern poppy design was created in 1978.
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