Meaghan: I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blogs. In young people like you we have a good, solid future: you are a good role model for your peers and for younger students. I wish you all the best in your  life.

To President Robin: Your narratives have made such interesting reading, and I hope that someone with more technical savvy than I can put them in some permanent form for re-reading.

To the wonderful people of this country who contribute to the welfare and support services of the RSA, not only with their donations to the annual poppy appeal, our main fund-raiser, (and Whangarei received a record total this year) and  with other  donations and legacies, but through practical support such as volunteer driving, welfare visits to rest homes, hospitals and house-bound veterans where your time and conversation are more important than any amount of money can provide. 

To ZB radio talkback, thankyou for the opportunity to talk to your listeners about how the RSA assists the veteran community through the Poppy Day monies: this was another first for me!

And finally, to the staff at RNZRSA HQ who set up this site  and allowed us to express our feelings and experiences- WOW! (And especially for guiding me through the process! While I have still not learned how to post photos, maybe I will now make an extra effort! )And special thanks to Lisa – who I met for the first time on Monday. It was a pleasure to see the person behind the e-mails.

2010 is my final year as a Pensions/Support person in Whangarei and in Northland – after 20 years I am stepping back to spend more time with the husband, and its time to bring in new, younger blood.   But I suspect that I shall still be in the fold for some time yet, so it won’t be a complete break, I am sure!

Goodbye, au revoir, shalom aleichem (peace be with you)

and may God bless you all.

These are the things that I have been craving for the past two weeks, and my does it feel amazing to be home again! It is currently 2AM on a school night, and the jet-lag and constant travelling has really taken its toll.

After we left Penang, we stayed overnight at the Darwin Royal Australian Air Force base where we enjoyed the first swim in a while. On the plane ride back, a memorial service was held for the 35 Squadron Air Force tragedy. It was a comforting consolation for those who were unable to attend the services at home to farewell their loved ones.

It is nigh impossible to describe how amazing this trip has been. I initially expected it to be a somewhat dour and grave event, but I met some incredibly colourful people and life-long friends. The scale of this trip was allowed by the generosity of the government and the tireless effort of various groups, including Veteran’s Affairs NZ, the RSA, and the NZDF.

It is difficult to describe the best two weeks of your life in a few phrases, so here is the reflection that I will send to Wing Commander Brett Marshall for him to collate:

“I used to think that warfare was trivial, shame-inducing, and wholly unnecessary. I used to think that joining the military was an easy way out; a choice to become a pawn in the perpetual political battle of destroy and conquer.

This was the result of growing up as a twenty-first century teenager. The only facet of the New Zealand military that I had witnessed was whatever the media fed me. News broadcasters reveal scandal and failure, photographers portray soldiers as heartless murderers, history immortalizes politicians as plastic idols and callous tyrants.

It was not until the Cyril Bassett VC Speech Contest and this trip that this perception on mine was wholly reversed. The Unknown Warrior taught me about selflessness and sacrifice. The veterans taught me about hope and progression. The Defence Force taught me about camaraderie and loyalty. The students taught me about how ancestry can provide pride.

Operation Gallipoli was an amazing experience and valuable lesson, and strengthened a sense of nationalism within me that I hadn’t realized until now existed. For me, this was not only a two-week trip, but a revelation of New Zealand’s past and the conception of its future.”

A massive thanks once again to the National Bank, Returned Services Association, Lisa Ellingham, and my school for the generosity and invaluable support that allowed me to embark on an adventure as amazing as this.

This venture was a first for us. Such was its success that something similar will surely be established for next year, and the next, and the next……..

The White Poppy saga seems to have worked in the RSA’s favour! The unofficial total for the Poppy Day donations has already exceeded last year’s total: an indication of the high regard in which the RSA is held in looking after its veterans and their families.

The assembly was really fun and I hope we do it again next year.                                                                                                          

By Chloe and Shannon.

We left Canakkale on the day after ANZAC Day and endured a six hour bus ride into Istanbul. We stayed at the breathtaking Crowne Plaza Hotel, which came fully equipped with an indoor pool, gym, sauna, steambath, and Turkish bath. We spent the evening shopping at chic boutique stores and wandering the massive Grand Bazaar markets. Voices shouting “I DO GOOD DEAL FOR YOU!” and “WELCOME KIWI!” echoed across the halls.

The next morning, we flew to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The weather was hot, yet we were glad to escape the humidity of Penang and Darwin. We arrived late and stayed at yet another lavish hotel: the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel. We spent the night visiting the Dubai mall, a complex with international brands, and an indoor aquarium, zoo, ice-rink, and waterfall.

Today we flew back to Penang and visited the night markets yet again. Not much has happened except lots of flying and shopping, have been missing home immensely though!

This phrase resonated around the banks of Gallipoli Peninsula in remembrance of the soldiers of all nationalities who landed there ninety-five years ago.

The occasion was one of mourning, one of reflection, but most importantly a celebration of the perseverance of the human spirit. My heart goes out to the three men who lost their lives in the helicopter crash. I met one of them only a few days ago at the Okaheia Base: Daniel. He was full of vitality and had an amazing sense of humour. It is needless to say that students, officials, and defence personnel alike shed tears in grief of the devastating loss.

We started the day at the ripe time of 2am as we made our way to the Dawn Service. With the waves lapping at the cliff on our left and with the sun rising above the steep hills on our right, it was a beautiful and moving experience.

We then attended the Australian, 57th Regiment, and New Zealand services. Our’s was the most sombre of them all, and it was heartbreaking to watch Air Force members standing in attention with tears dripping down their face.

We are leaving Canakkale today for a night in Istanbul. The people are welcoming and the patriotism is admirable, but I am glad to be departing the hustle-bustle of this crowded city.

Happy ANZAC Day to those at home, I hope that the occasion was not received merely as a day off work (as I used to think), but a commemoration of the sacrifice and bloodshed that built the foundations of our nation.

One the ferry to Eceabat

Dawn Service

First there was the Turkish ceremonial at their memorial at Mehmetcik Abidesi near Cape Helles. This included massed bands from Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. It also included a truly fascinating performance by a national Turkish military band in a colourful range of traditional dress and accoutrements. Both the costumes and the instruments were quite different from anything we normally see. But the performance confirmed that neither pomp and circumstance impact nor purposeful dignity are confined to the way we do things in our own society.

Then it was on to the French service at Morto Bay, also near Helles. The memorial site is a cemetery and monument. The obvious main difference from the Australian, New Zealand and British gravesites is that they are not in stone but in iron, and are shaped as crosses. We were given white chrysanthemums, not poppies, to lay on the graves in an act of remembrance. Importantly, this ceremony also reminded us that nations other than Australia and New Zealand suffered grievous losses at Gallipoli – the French lost over 10,000 killed. The accompanying picture is the flower I placed on one of the crosses.

Finally in the day there was the Commonwealth Memorial Service at the substantial British memorial at Cape Helles. Here, too, we are reminded that the campaign involved more than the Anzacs. The British lost more than 22,000 killed – over 1300 of them from the Indian Army. Indeed it is on this account that the ceremonial occasions involving wreathlaying both on the 24th and on Anzac Day itself have included wreaths from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, notwithstanding that neither of the latter two existed as nations in 1915.

Canada, too, has been included in the wreathlayings. It is often forgotten that the Royal Newfoundland Regiment lost 49 killed at Gallipoli. Newfoundland of course was not a part of Canada in 1915. But it now is; and so we see Canadian wreaths included in the ceremonial.

In New Zealand and Australia (and other Commonwealth countries) it is normal on occasions of remembrance to include the sequence of the bugle call Last Post followed by a period of silence followed by Reveille (or Rouse). Here on the Peninsula we can observe what other countries do in this regard. We find that they follow a very similar format, but the trumpet calls done by Turkey and by France are different from the ones with which we are familiar, in much the same way that the Americans’ “Taps” is like Last Post but not quite. But, upon hearing these calls, it is not the fact of difference that most strikes the listener (or at least this particular listener). Rather it is that despite the differences in tune or cadence, the purpose is instantaneously recognisable without further elaboration of any kind. These are salutes to the fallen in battle; and there is no mistaking the purpose even as the introductory bars ring out. Some things are naturally international.

On Anzac Day morning our early call here at Canakkale was at 2:30am in order to make good the ferry-and-bus ride to the dawn service at the Anzac commemorative sight near the Cove.

Sadly, we awoke to the news of the fatal accident near Wellington when the No 3 Squadron helicopter was on its way to the dawn service at the Cenotaph. Before boarding the bus to the ferry terminal, I was able to get a message to the Chief of the Air Force expressing our shock, and asking him to pass on our devastation (and that of the entire RSA) to the families and to the colleagues of those who died on duty. I said also that we would say the Ode to the Fallen for them; and this was done. What more fitting place than Gallipoli to say it? The veterans’ group also laid poppies for the crew of the Iroquois during the New Zealand service at Chunuk Bair later in the day.

At the Dawn Service the Australian Governor-General paid tribute to those who had died that morning in the accident. Our Prime Minister then opened his address similarly. Later, at Chunuk Bair, he dwelt at greater length on the tragedy, among other things making the point that military service has both obligations and, not infrequently, consequences, whether in circumstances of war or otherwise.

Not unnaturally this accident has coloured the events at Gallipoli on the 95th anniversary. We acknowledge and revere the courage of those who found themselves in the front line in 1915. The aircraft that came down near Wellington was not under enemy fire at the time. But that is an irrelevancy because the crew was doing its duty which in this case was to support the veterans’ movement by overflying the dawn parade in Wellington.

There can be no more worthy epitaph than the association with this place called Gallipoli at this time; and the meaning it has for all of us as ANZACs.

Last night I was invited to guest on ZB talkback. Much of the call-back talk was regarding the white poppies. While I listened, 100% support for Red, 0% for White. During my stint on Poppy Day comments were quite anti-white. This may have worked in our favour as some donors gave more than what they originally had in their hand!It is my view that if this movement wishes to solicit funds and support, then a day more suited to their cause could be something prhaps Hiroshima Day: and why the poppy? Are there not dozens of other white flowers that could have been suitable? Did these people set out to provoke as much as jumping on the poppy bandwagon? Seems like it to me.

I have been keeping up with the blogs from those who were at Anzac Cove. Watching it all on a screen is quite thought-provoking: being there must get right to the heart and emotion of of it all.To those who did attend -including some of our local veterans – what memories you will carry with you for the rest of your lives!

By Liam and Ollie

The beach may be a little narrower now than it was 95 years ago; but
that does not change our desire to understand how it was done. Neither
does it matter that we now know some of it was a muddle. The fact is
that it was done, and done bravely, despite the weaknesses.

While standing on the beach we turn our attention to the slopes above.
Perhaps what we first notice is the scale – and not that it is vast, but
that it isn’t. The ridgeline horizon seems very close. The land
between is broken, with many gullies and secondary ridges. But two
characteristics stand out above all others – abruptness and steepness.

The land rises abruptly from the narrow beach, and then continues
steeply up to the ridgeline. We turn to the right along the road –
which lies just above the beach but which was not there in 1919 – and
walk about a kilometer and a half to look up what became known as
Shrapnel Gully. There we take a left turn to walk the track up to the
Lone Pine site.

It is only another kilometer or so, but the track follows the lay of the land, always steep, and far from direct. Once near the top we turn and look back down. This above all else brings home to us what a commanding advantage the defenders had as the Anzacs struggled up the hill. Almost all movement would have been exposed.

The Anzacs who landed on the beach that morning must have seen how difficult it would be to take that steeply-sloping ground where every inch was defended by fire. Was it even possible, some might have
wondered. History now tells us of course that it wasn’t. But they still tried.

And so when we say the words “we will remember them”, there is more to it than the solemn act of commemorating lives lost. We must remember that although the Allied campaign fell well short of its objectives, those caught up in it tried to do their duty with extraordinary determination and valour. They did so despite the odds; and, quite possibly, also despite knowing what those odds were. This we salute.