The French and New Zealand flags fly outside Le Quesnoy's old Gendarmerie, now Te Arawhata - the New Zealand Liberation Museum.
The French and New Zealand flags fly outside Le Quesnoy's old Gendarmerie, now Te Arawhata - the New Zealand Liberation Museum.
OPINION
November is a full-on month. There are public events, activities, shows, concerts and festivals galore being shoe-horned into the pre-Christmas calendar, as well as all the domestic preparations that accompany this busy time of year.
Remembrance is a theme of the month, and I’m not talking about that old Guy Fawkes rhyme. At 11am on November 11, 1918, the armistice that brought World War I to a close came into effect, and 2023 marks 105 years since the guns fell silent.
In Palmerston North, we have annually commemorated Armistice Day at the cenotaph in Te Marae o Hine/The Square with a civic service following the traditional two-minute silence at 11am.
Other countries around the world have long observed this as Remembrance Day - a more inclusive name that acknowledges the wider service and sacrifice of all those who enlisted.
On Saturday, November 11, during our Remembrance Day service, we will again pay tribute to those who served and who are serving. This is particularly pertinent here, with the country’s two largest military bases in our backyard.
Last month, I was starkly reminded – twice in fact – of those sacrifices. Firstly, on October 11, I had the great good fortune to attend the opening of the New Zealand Liberation Museum – Te Arawhata in the historic French town of Le Quesnoy.
Le Quesnoy is significant for several reasons. The capture in 1918 by New Zealand troops of the fortified French town garrisoned by German soldiers for most of the war came in the conflict’s closing days.
Reminiscent of the larger-than-life exhibits from Te Papa's Gallipoli exhibit is this Kiwi soldier created by Wētā Workshop for Te Arawhata - the New Zealand Liberation Museum in the historic French town of Le Quesnoy.
Troops knew nothing of the war’s imminent end and were determined to take the strategic town despite its bastions and moats. The defences at Le Quesnoy could easily have been shelled, but New Zealand soldiers found another way – using a ladder to scale the fortifications. This resulted in the surrender of the 2000-plus German garrison and the liberation of French townsfolk without any civilian casualties or damage to the town.
The people of Le Quesnoy have never forgotten. There are four New Zealand battlefield memorials on the Western Front, and one is near Le Quesnoy. The town has an Avenue des Neo-Zelandais, a Rue Nouvelle Zelande, with a street and a primary school named after Lieutenant Leslie Averil, the plucky Kiwi soldier who first scouted up the ladder. There’s also a Rue Helen Clark and a Place des All Blacks – with the nearby grave of 1905 All Blacks Originals captain Sergeant Dave Gallaher, who was killed at Passchendaele.
Le Quesnoy now has Te Arawhata - a Musee Neo-Zelandais, or New Zealand Museum.
Te Arawhata, which means “the ladder”, is a living memorial inside the former Gendarmerie building with interactive and large-scale exhibits created by Wētā Workshop embodying freedom, friendship and the future.
I was an extremely proud Kiwi that day during a moving ceremony that attracted scores of notable New Zealanders.
The second occasion took place at Linton Military Camp on October 24 with the official unveiling of the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (1RNZIR) memorial wall. Five years in the making, the wall commemorates the 97 personnel from the regiment who have passed away on active duty since 1957.
Following our city Remembrance Day service on November 11, the final seven Poppy Places streets at Linton Camp will be unveiled. This brings the number of Poppy Places streets and sites around Palmerston North to 66.
However, there are other sites yet to be investigated, so the Poppy Places project, which began in 2015 to acknowledge Palmerston North’s military heritage, will have at least another lap to run.
