Former All Black Buck Shelford is credited with helping to revive the All Blacks' use of haka. Photo / File
Former All Black Buck Shelford is credited with helping to revive the All Blacks' use of haka. Photo / File
New Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association President Sir Wayne “Buck” Shelford is hoping the 11th day of the 11th month (November) at 11am, will be a new day where New Zealanders can celebrate its defence - past and present - personnel.
The former All Blacks captain said the NZRSA, will push for the 11th of November to become a second national day where we remember our defence forces and the brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for Aotearoa.
“The first Anzac Day was planned for 11th November, but because the poppies arrived late here, it was decided to wait until April 25, where the ANZACs bravely fought in Gallipoli,” Shelford told the Herald.
“We have a huge turnout on ANZAC Day, but seem to disappear for the 364 others days of the year.
“We are trying to have another day for us and have looked at the 11th of the 11th. "
The Mount Maunganui dawn service parade. Photo / George Novak
“We don’t actually do a big job as far as Armistice Day, but we would want to turn that into New Zealand Armed Forces day or New Zealand Veterans Day and we would all march on that day.
Shelford was elected President for a three-year term in October 2022 and has been travelling Aotearoa speaking with clubs about how RSA’s must update to survive.
At 65, Shelford is considered a young president and one goal all RSAs face is they need young vets to join.
Shelford said the raru raru (issues) of past days where RSA service members were split on who qualified as a vet and who was not were gone.
“Anyone who has faced conflict regardless whether it was WWII, Korea, Vietnam or where ever is a war vet,’ Shelford said.
“Many of our older members says things they shouldn’t be saying, which is quite sad.
“Some clubs know where service people who may have moved to their area live and visit them at home asking them to join the RSA. We must be proactive.”
Shelford said some club committees were making bad decisions, which in the end was costing RSAs membership and revenue.
He said 65 per cent of members of RSAs were associate members and not vets.
This,Shelford said, had tipped the kaupapa 180 degrees on what an RSA was established to do.
“You must have vets (veterans) on your committees because civilians tend to take over and that’s where we lose our IP,” Shelford said.
“But the core for us as RSAs is for serviceman, for their remembrance, support and advocacy and many RSAs have forgotten that core role over the past 40 years and have turned into a drinking place, with somewhere to eat and playing a few pokies.
“You must have smart people running the bars, the kitchen, the entertainment.”
Shelford said the push to celebrate Armistice Day would allow Kiwis to engage with our vets of all ages.
“Since 1990, we have had 61,500 military people attest (enrol) to the military and of that 13,000 have been operational - been to war,” he said.
Shelford was a PE teacher before he joined the Navy - based at Devonport - and continued on with his physical training.
