Anzac Day 2023

Anzac Day

The history of Anzac Day

Anzac Day is observed on 25 April each year. In general, it commemorates New Zealanders and Australians killed in war but also honours all returned and serving Servicemen and Servicewomen. Specifically, the date marks the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand soldiers –the Anzacs – on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915 during WWI. On that day, thousands of young men, far from their homes, stormed the beaches on the Gallipoli Peninsula in what is now Turkey. The aim of the Anzacs, together with other allied troops, was to capture the Dardanelles and open a sea route to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. At the end of the campaign, Gallipoli was still held by its Ottoman Turkish defenders.

On the day of the Gallipoli landing, 153 New Zealand soldiers were killed and many more wounded. Over the eight months of fighting at Gallipoli, 2,779 New Zealanders were killed and 5,212 wounded, amounting to about 57 percent of the New Zealanders at Gallipoli. In addition, at least 87,000 Ottoman Turks and 8,500 Australian soldiers died during this push.

The fighting may have ended in military defeat, but for many New Zealanders, both then and since, the Gallipoli landings signalled that New Zealand was becoming a distinct nation, even as it fought on the other side of the world in the name of the British Empire.

After WWI, returned soldiers sought the comradeship they had felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before dawn. A dawn vigil, recalling the wartime front line practice of the dawn ‘standto’, became the basis of a form of commemoration after the war.

Anzac Day was first observed in New Zealand in 1916. The day has gone through many changes since. The ceremonies that are held at war memorials up and down New Zealand, and in places overseas where New Zealanders gather, are modelled on a military funeral. They are rich in tradition and ritual.

The Australian and New Zealand Governments also jointly conduct the Anzac Day Gallipoli Dawn Service on 25 April each year at a site in Gallipoli itself. This service takes place with the permission and support of the host nation, the Republic of Turkey.

The red poppy Anzac Day

The red or Flanders poppy has been linked with battlefield deaths since WWI and has become a symbol of war remembrance the world over. People in many countries wear the poppy to remember those who died in war or are serving in the armed forces.

The poppy is often worn on Armistice Day (11 November), which is when WWI ended. In New Zealand, however, the poppy is usually seen on Anzac Day, 25 April.

The poppy was one of the first plants to grow and bloom on battlefields in the Belgian region of Flanders after WWI.

The connection was made most famously by a Canadian medical officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, in his poem, ‘In Flanders fields’. Distressed at the death and suffering around him, McCrae is said to have scribbled the verses in his notebook.

In a cemetery nearby, red poppies blew gently in the breeze – a symbol of regeneration and growth in a landscape of blood and destruction.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

With thanks to the New Zealand History government website for this material.

Anzac dawn commemorations of remembrance

Returned and serving Servicemen and Servicewomen, Service organisations, and the general public, are all welcome to participate in Anzac Day services and parades.

Masterton

Participants will assemble at 5.30am at Masterton’s War Memorial Stadium (Trust House Recreation Centre) in Dixon Street, to parade to the Cenotaph in QE Park for services.

Dignitaries including the Mayor of Masterton Gary Caffell and Kieran McAnulty, Wairarapa’s MP, will be invited to lay wreaths, if their calendars allow. A lone piper will sound its haunting notes while wreaths are laid.

Guest speaker Cadet Corporal Norris, from the 21 Squadron Air Training Corp, will speak about a distinguished former Masterton resident and WWII aviator who received several awards. Students from Makoura College’s Military Service Academy will attend, and one will recite the Ode of Remembrance in Māori.

Masterton’s brass band will play. Participants can march back to Club Wairarapa – the home of Masterton’s RSA (Returned and Services Association) - for breakfast, available for a koha.

Kaiparoro

A service will be held at the ANZAC Memorial Bridge on State Highway 2, near Eketahuna, commencing at 2:00pm. It was built in 1922 by Alfred Falkner, father of one of six local soldiers commemorated on the bridge, and is now a category 1 listed structure with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

Parking will be available at Miller Reserve and there is a walkway to the bridge.

Following the service, an afternoon tea will be held at Pukaha Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre at $5.00 per person.

This year, the contribution and service of Nurses in the Defence Force will be acknowledged. Private Margret McAnulty, killed in WWII and memorialised on the bridge, will be remembered.

Tinui

Tinui will be sticking to its Anzac Day tradition this year, despite the clean-up from Cyclone Gabrielle. This year marks the 107th service in the town. Brigadier Anne Campbell will be this year’s guest speaker and Tinui parish’s Reverend Steve Thomson will officiate. Wairarapa TV will broadcast the service which begins at 10.30am on 25 April.

On 25 April 1916 the World’s first ever Anzac service was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd. After the service the Tinui community erected a wooden cross on top of Mt. Maunsell (Tinui Taipo) as one of New Zealand’s first memorials to the Gallipoli Campaign.

This year, the usual walk along Anzac Walkway from Tinui Cemetery to the memorial cross, following the service, will not go ahead. The aim is to re-open the walkway for next year’s services.

Anzac Day

Carterton

Ode of Remembrance

The Ode of Remembrance has been recited to commemorate wartime service and sacrifice since 1921.

The Ode is the 4th stanza of the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon, first published in September 1914. Binyon was an English academic and poet. He worked as a medical orderly with the Red Cross on the Western Front during WWI. By the time his poem was published in The Times, the British Expeditionary Force had already experienced devastating losses on the Western Front.

The English version of the Ode is:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them. Response: We will remember them Lest we forget.

When the Ode is recited at a commemorative service, visitors should stand, remove headwear and refrain from talking.

Carterton District Council assists the RSA to coordinate the Anzac Parade and Service for 25 April each year. “We are happy to support the RSA to commemorate such an important occasion for all New Zealanders and deliver an Anzac service for the Carterton community that aligns with the RSA’s wishes.”

The service brings a level of formality, with dignitaries and representatives attending including Mayor Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand Defence Force, and the Australian and British High Commissions. “Nevertheless, our Carterton Service is very much a community event with participation from local schools, churches, and community groups.” All are welcome and invited.

In 2022 the Council erected a range of core flute panels in Memorial Square, commemorating local soldiers. It is doing this again in 2023, with some new additions.

The 2023 parade will assemble at 10.45am in Holloway Street and move off at 11.00am. The parade route makes its way along Holloway Street, right into High Street and will finish with the Service in Memorial Square.

The square and its central memorial were dedicated in 1921, commemorating 114 Carterton area men. In previous years part of the service has been held in the Carterton Club on Broadway.

This year, however, all the formalities will take place in the Square with the opportunity for some light refreshments and conversation at the Club afterwards.

we forget”

Greytown

The Greytown RSA Committee will conduct a public Commemoration Service at the WWII Memorial, Kuratawhiti Street, at 10.30 am. This will be followed by a short Civic Service at the South Wairarapa Workingmen’s Club. Residents and visitors are cordially invited to attend.

Featherston

Featherston will hold two services this Anzac Day, to which residents and visitors are cordially invited.

Martinborough

Residents of Martinborough and District are invited to attend the Dawn Parade and Service.

Participants will assemble at 5.45am outside Pain and Kershaws on Jellicoe Street and the parade will move off to the Square at 5.55am for the Service and laying of the wreaths.

Due to the early start a torch is advisable. Coffee and tea will be available in the Supper Room of the Waihinga Centre following the Service.

FOREST

• The first is a Dawn Service starting at 5.45am at the Cross of Sacrifice, Featherston Cemetery, Western Lake Road. Please be assembled by 5.40am.

• At 9.00am, a Civic Service will be held at the Featherston War Memorial on the corner of Fitzherbert (State Highway 2) and Fox Streets.

Featherston RSA’s lifelong member and kaumatua, Dick Smith, will officiate at the ceremony and the Deputy Mayor for South Wairarapa District Council, Melissa Sadler-Futter, will lay a wreath. Anyone intending to lay a wreath at either service is asked to contact the RSA on 022 165 3521 no later than noon today, Monday 24 April.

OWNERS…

Lake Ferry

The Lake Ferry service will be returning to its full service again this year, with involvement from local iwi, schools, and residents. The parade will gather at the flagpole ay 10.15am for a 10.30am start. Mayor Martin Connelly will attend for the laying of wreaths. Following the service there will be a community BBQ and Sports at the Lake Ferry Domain - whānau and tamariki are invited.

NZ FOREST WORKS