Poignant Somme Commemoration
For WGCDR Russell Kennedy and son SGT Michael Kennedy this year’s Somme commemorations were especially poignant.
SGT Jack Davis. (WN-08-0037-86).
The duo, together with New Zealand’s Ambassador to France Sarah Dennis, New Zealand Defence Attaché in London Brig Warren Whiting, Australian Defence Attaché Col Feliks Skowronski and CO of RNZAF Number 5 Squadron WGCDR Logan Cudby, travelled to a small corner of northern France where the efforts of New Zealand soldiers were commemorated in the towns of Le Quesnoy in the north and Longueval in the Somme.
Among the brave men that fought were Russell and Michael’s grandfather and great grandfather SGT John (Jack) Samuel Davis. SGT Davis joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Egypt before being deployed to France in 1915.
He fought in the Somme where he was badly wounded (at Fleurs-Courcelette) then in Belgium at Passchendaele and subsequently in support of the liberation of Le Quesnoy near the end of 1918.
WGCDR Russell Kennedy recalls the experience of being there as one of great honour. ‘It was a real privilege to be a part of it all. I had visited before, but to be there again for an ANZAC Day service was a very special experience. Just as special was the service on the Somme, where Granddad was badly wounded during an attack on the German trenches. To stand there in the bright sunshine with green grass and birds singing, and try to imagine how it would have been in 1916, was quite an experience. Particularly as the next day I was flying back into Afghanistan.’
WGCDR Russell Kennedy (left) and SGT Michael Kennedy. (WN-08-0037-85).
For the locals of Le Quesnoy, the strong feelings they hold for the bravery of the New Zealand soldiers who fought to liberate the town remain. ‘The towns all were so welcoming. The fact that they were in the very place that some very horrific battles occurred is still with them even though most of those who were there in WW1 are no longer with us their descendants are still very aware of what happened 90 years ago,’ said SGT Michael Kennedy.
In addition to the military personnel present, students from Wellington High School and St Patrick’s College also attended the commemorations.
SGT Kennedy said they appreciated being part of the ceremony, ‘I think the school group was very pleased to be able to be part of such a special celebration. They appreciated the effort of the embassy to get them to the ceremony in Le Quesnoy. The school haka that one of the schools did was also very good and appropriate and I think that all the other kiwis in the crowd felt that it put a very New Zealand touch on the services.’
Students from Wellington High School and St Patrick’s College perform a haka at Le Quesnoy. (WN-08-0037-84).
At Longueval Ambassador Sarah Dennis thanked the town, ‘We thank you, the inhabitants of Longueval, for the watch you keep over our soldiers who lie here at peace in your fields.’ It was from these fields that the remains of the Unknown Warrior made the long journey from Caterpillar Valley cemetery outside Longueval to Wellington.
The courage of such men as SGT Davis was to have a lasting effect on his descendents and their own decision to join the armed services. WGCDR Kennedy said hearing his grandfather’s stories played a part in his joining the RNZAF,
‘I grew up with my Granddad, he was living with us on the family farm. I heard many of his stories of the western front as a child, and then as a teenager. Yes, he definitely influenced my decision. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t join the infantry!’