Corner of foreign land that is forever Kiwi

John Key and Le Quesnoy Mayor Paul Raoult pay their respects at the memorial service in the town. Photo / Stephen Olsen

The teenage girls from Mt Maunganui were wildly excited: John Key was coming to town.

The town is a small one: Le Quesnoy, in the north of France, where every year Anzac Day is celebrated by the citizens, the descendants of those who lived here on November 4, 1918, when the New Zealand Rifle Brigade liberated the town from four years of German control.

The New Zealanders went up over the ramparts of the ancient fortified town, on ladders they liberated from the fire station, it is thought, and added to with bits of sticks from the surrounding forested area.

It is a story of derring do, and good old Kiwi DIY, and the Le Quesnoyans have never forgotten.

There are two streets named New Zealand, and one after the All Blacks.

The Prime Minister said: "I want to say what a wonderful and New Zealand-friendly town Le Quesnoy is. Because I was walking down the main street before and I noticed that you had named an avenue after the All Blacks, and even we haven't done that."

The teenage girls had said, the day before, "John Key's coming!" And "he's going to be here!"

There is much excitement in Le Quesnoy on the last Sunday of every April: the day Anzac Day is celebrated.

There is a strange and enduring connection between the people of this little town and an event that happened almost a hundred years ago.

We marched down Avenue Nouvelle Zealandie, through an ancient gateway, and then we were on New Zealand soil - a gift of thanks from the town to us. Then we arrived at the New Zealand memorial, high on the rampart walls.

Marie Jose Burlion, president of the Le Quesnoy New Zealand friendship society, was wearing an amazing hat of pink and purple tulle.

She said to the PM, "Sorry about my English." He said, "No, it's good. Well done. It's better than my French."

They don't mind your mangled, or non-existent, French in Le Quesnoy.

We marched back through the streets, the New Zealanders in rugby shirts and the ladies in nice frocks (they were the French ladies) and little French lads in All Black rugby shirts and a boy draped in the New Zealand flag.

A very big military wig, Lieutenant General Mark Evans, had come all the way from Australia. He was wearing what they call in the trade "a lot of bling". He looked magnifique.

Why had he come such a long way? "For us to be together, as we always were - and always are."

There were speeches at the town hall. The day before, at another town hall nearby, there were speeches. A funny French person said: "This is how we lost France. Speeches, speeches, speeches."

Still, there was a Kir Royal champagne cocktail after the speeches, and you wouldn't get that at a town hall in Masterton, say. The mayor seemed very excited to have the PM here. He said: "You are the latest in a line of famous people. You follow in the footsteps of Charles de Gaulle."

Had the mayor promised to name a street after the PM?

"Don't know actually. I understand that might be the case."

Has he raised it? "Not yet! We live in hope, don't we?" Because there's a rue... "Helen Clark. I know! Yeah, exactly."

Funny he didn't mention that in his speech. "No, no. I thought we'd stick with the All Blacks."

And that is Anzac Day in a tiny town in the north of France where New Zealanders are adored. It is, somebody said, "sombre fun". That seems about right, and fitting.

Michele Hewitson will write about the enduring link between Le Quesnoy and New Zealand in Saturday's Weekend Herald.

THE STORY OF LE QUESNOY, 1918

* New Zealand sent 100,000 of its 243,000 men of military age to defend the British Empire during the Great War of 1914-1918.

* From April 1916 until the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the New Zealanders fought as a Dominion Division of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium.

* In early 1918, the NZ Division was away from the frontline retraining and reinforcing losses after the late-1917 campaigns, and from the Passchendaele campaign in particular.

* When the German army commenced its Spring Offensive of March 1918, the allied forces were heavily mauled and gaps appeared in the Allied Front. NZ soldiers moved to plug a gap and helped halt the German army by April 5.

* The final offensive to drive Germany from France and Belgium began in July 1918. By early November, NZ infantry, including the 3rd NZ (Rifle) Infantry Brigade, known as the Rifle Brigade, were positioned in front of Le Quesnoy.

* On the day of the liberation of Le Quesnoy ( November 4, 1918), because of the civilian population, the artillery shelling was contained in front of the town ramparts. Two of three NZ infantry brigades surrounded the town by 9am and the Rifle Brigade defeated German soldiers who had occupied the town for most of the war.

* The operation resulted in the capture of 700 German prisoners and involved firing 300 flaming oil drums at the town walls to create a smokescreen. NZ soldiers entered the town by scaling ladders set against the ancient walls.

Michele Hewitson will write about the enduring link between Le Quesnoy and New Zealand in Saturday's Weekend Herald.