Anzac Day: Chanel Wotten, great-granddaughter of Alfred Clive Hulme VC, is Te Puke guest speaker

Guest speaker Lieutenant Chanel Wotten from the Royal New Zealand Military Police Corps with mum Jenny and dad Paul.

The great-granddaughter of one of New Zealand’s most celebrated military heroes was the guest speaker at Te Puke’s Anzac Day commemorations on Tuesday.

Lieutenant Chanel Wotten, whose great-grandfather Alfred Clive Hulme was awarded the Victoria Cross in October 1941, largely for his actions serving in the Battle of Crete, is now in the Royal New Zealand Military Police Corps and is the area commander at the Burnham Military camp.

She recalled standing on the parade ground, graduating in front of her family.

“Little did I realise at the time, that [the] Military Police was also the corps of which my great-grandfather... had been a sergeant in.”

She said the challenges she faced at Officer Cadet School, including going days without sleep and living off ration packs, would never compare to the encounters her great-grandfather faced in World War II.

Her great-grandfather’s brother, Harold, was killed while serving on Crete.

“It is such an honour to follow in their footsteps, men who I frequently wrote about in school and find myself constantly admiring for their bravery.”

The former Te Puke High School student also recalled the sacrifices made by those who served in World War I and all subsequent wars.

“When you look at the names of the fallen on our war memorials and elsewhere, think about what these men and women and their comrades who were lucky enough to survive endured. Think about the pain suffered, the lives cut short, the dreams unfulfilled and the grief felt by those left behind.”

Head students Cerys Robertson and Ty Kelly lay a wreath on behalf of Te Puke Intermediate School.

The head students from Te Puke Intermediate School, Cerys Robertson and Ty Kelly, read In Flanders Field, while Te Puke High School students Evie Gibney and Harrison Hennel recalled those from their own families who had served in the two world wars.

Evie’s great-grandfather Frederick Hemingway served on the Solomon Islands in World War II while Harrison’s great-great-grandfather Percy Robert Teague Snr served in World War I and great-grandfather Percy Robert Teague Jnr served in World War II. Harrison’s grandparents on his father’s side also endured the Blitz in London.

Western Bay of Plenty Deputy Mayor John Scrimgeour recalled speaking of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 12 months earlier.

He said in the intervening year, little seemed to have changed.

Sunrise at the Anzac Day dawn service at Maketū. Photo / Laura Rae

“The war continues, lives are still being lost, people are still being injured, lives are still being turned upside down, infrastructure is still being needlessly destroyed and insecurity still prevails.”

He said the one thing that had changed, which was sad to him, was that the conflict was no longer a daily news item and the people of Ukraine were no longer in our daily thoughts.

He said he believed everyone had a responsibility to endeavour to resolve conflict without war breaking out.

Earlier in the day a dawn service was held at Maketū.