Venkat Raman
With RNZ
Auckland, April 25, 2021
Governor General Patsy Reddy delivering the ANZAC Day address in Wellington on April 25, 2021
(TV One News Screenshot)
New Zealand is commemorating Anzac Day 2021 today with events across the country.
Dawn services were held around the country with the 11am Service in Wellington as the highlight of the observance.
Duke of Cambridge Message, gift
Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have delivered a special message and a sweet gift to New Zealand to commemorate Anzac Day.
In a written message delivered along with a batch of Anzac biscuits in London, Prince William said that the “Anzac qualities of endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour and mateship are admired as fiercely as ever before.”
His message and gift came as thousands of New Zealanders gathered across the country to mark Anzac Day for the first time in two years, after the ravaging Covid-19 constrained cancellation of public services in 2020 for the first time since 1916.
Prince William and Kate paid tribute to the “indomitable spirit” and “courage” of Australian and New Zealand forces as he joined the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, in marking Anzac Day this weekend.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaking at the Auckland Museum on April 25, 2021 (Maori TV Screenshot)
Ardern thanks wartime women
Speaking at the main Dawn Service at the Auckland Museum, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern paid a special tribute to the women of wartime New Zealand, those who served and those who sacrificed in other ways.
“Each Anzac Day we commemorate the past but also the present. So, to those who give of themselves now, men and women, who have cared for us through Covid-19, given comfort in times of disaster, performed rescues in the midst of crisis, we say thank you,” she said.
“Our commitment to you on this day is not just our gratitude, but our pledge that while we may call on your commitment, we will do all we can to prevent calling on you to make the ultimate sacrifice. That we will do what we can to stop war, to prevent conflict, to say to mothers: we will remember them so you may never again lose them,” Ms Ardern said.
Phil Goff on martyrs
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff spoke of his uncle in the Pacific, and nephew in Afghanistan, both of whom died in action.
He said that they were two of 30,000 New Zealanders who did not return home.
“We pray today that those who sacrificed their lives did not do so in vain, but that we will one day realise the better world, the more just and peaceful world, that they fought and died for,” Mr Goff said.
More than 15,000 people attended the Service at the Auckland Museum.
Korean War veteran Gordon Sutherland (RNZ Photo by Dom Thomas)
Korean War Veteran
RNZ reported that Gordon Sutherland, a veteran who fought in Korea, told of his experience of war and the horror of seeing napalm used for the first time. The veteran, from Johnsonville, attended this morning’s Anzac Day National Service in Wellington.
“I will always remember what an experience it was to see, sitting on the hill, on the other side the worst experience that I will ever have was seeing napalm used for the first time. Absolutely… I was so shocked that I even felt sorry for the enemy. The enemy that was a human being,” he said.
Mr Sutherland said that he has not forgotten the incident but had never spoken about it before and that he has attended commemoration services since the War.
“My connection goes back 80 years, from when I was a wee boy my father served in the First World War and I attended services from when I was 4-years-old. I was born on Armistice Day and I am still here today. I served in Korea… I suppose you would call it fighting,” he said.
Mr Sutherland said that he was pleased to return to New Zealand.
“It was wonderful to be home and since then, I have experienced a wonderful life. It is just so lovely to be here… I love our country,” he said.
Wreaths at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington (RNZ Photo by Emma Hatton)
Day of Significance
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in New Zealand and Australia that commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations to protect us and our country.
The word ‘Anzac’ is a part of the culture of New Zealanders and Australians.
When Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, it was committing not only its own men, but those of its Empire.
The five ‘Dominions,’ namely, Australia, Canada, Newfoundland (which joined with Canada in 1949), New Zealand and South Africa, were self-governing but had no power over foreign policy. Most entered the war willingly, proud to go to the aid of the empire, often pictured as a lion with its cubs.
But as the war dragged on and their young men died in droves, they pressed for more say in its conduct and, after it ended, more control over their destinies. The men who came home often found that fighting for Britain had, paradoxically, made them feel more distant from it. A century later, many historians see the first world war as the former dominions’ ‘War of Independence.’
The above story has been sponsored by
