Remembrance

Longlook this year presented some of us with the unique opportunity to form a joint tri-service contingent of New Zealand servicemen and women to remember those WW1 New Zealand servicemen that fought and died for the way of life that we enjoy today.

With a catafalque party of New Zealand soldiers dressed in WW1 period uniform complete with Le-Enfield rifles and poppies adorning the New Zealand graves in the cemetery at Messines we commenced our commemorative service.

A stirring Waiata welcomed the official party as more and more people turned up to join in the commemoration, it was a privilege to represent our country in uniform and to remember our servicemen that fought and died.

With the catafalque party at rest on arms reverse in silent vigil a number of nations representatives came forward and solemnly laid the wreaths side by side to remember close on a thousand New Zealanders that gave their lives during that battle.

A young New Zealand schoolgirl on exchange read an excerpt from a soldier’s letter home. The letter expressed an honest awe at the devastation and indiscriminate death that surrounded them all.

The last post was played and young and old stood to remember old soldiers. Forty school children from the local Messines School sang the National Anthems of both Belgium and New Zealand and some of them came forward to place local poppies beside the wreaths.

On a lighter note a comment from a more senior lady standing near the back that she was quite shocked when the soldiers in the catafalque moved as she thought that they were statues caused a bit of a smile and the presence of Miss Belgium complete with sash went down quite well with some of our younger members. Of course with any community-based activity the locals provided a healthy dose of hospitality in the old New Zealand tradition of food and refreshments!

In contrast to the Messines commemorations I was present at Royal Air Force (RAF) Halton on the 14th of June for the 25th commemorative service to remember the personnel who fought and died in the 1982 Falklands conflict. The Queens Colour for Halton was marched on and an RAF Chinook flew over to start the service.

Veterans from that conflict and World War 2 (WW2) were present along with about 500 Base personnel. Hymns were sung and the reading was about peace. The address, however, was focused at the young recruits that were present and some of them had only been in days. This address was about up-holding the ethos, integrity, tradition and history of the RAF.

Of course the RAF is still heavily involved in conflict in today’s world and the weekly news has service casualties pictured and their stories for all to see, quite sobering for today’s RAF recruit.

At the same time an e-mail from home, with an update of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) Strategic Plan attached. This talked about being a valued partner having an agile force and using our resources efficiently. With the Non-commissioned Officer (NCO) training review the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) implemented last year and having observed the RAF NCO training I can assure my colleagues that we are definitely striving towards an agile and resourceful NCO to ensure that any contribution we make to any conflict or peacekeeping operation is seen as valued by those allies that we work with.

We the RNZAF are equipping our people with the tools and skills that will enable us to integrate in an effective way with those we work with. The RAF uses many similar ideals and core requirements as ourselves; we think alike in many ways.

However, the RNZAF have set a more stringent requirement for our NCOs and our command have a more open appreciation of the need to support its personnel in today’s world. From what I have seen we are in good stead to carry on the traditions of those who have gone before and whose bones lie in fields covered with poppies.