Waste of war is keynote of speeches

By FRANCESCA MOLD

The loss of almost 3000 New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli during World War I helped to make our nation strong, independent and peace-loving, says the Governor-General's speech prepared for delivery at Chunuk Bair.

Dame Silvia Cartwright and Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton were to attend the Anzac Day dawn service at Gallipoli today to remember the New Zealand soldiers killed and wounded almost 90 years ago.

In April 1915, Anzac troops landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. That August, in their fiercest battle of the campaign, the New Zealanders struggled through scrub under heavy fire to lead the charge up Chunuk Bair and captured the summit, although some units lost more than half their men.

By evening, the Wellington battalion had only 70 fit men left of the 700 who had captured the hilltop. They withstood counterattack after counterattack.

The next day, the exhausted New Zealanders were replaced by British troops and the Turks recaptured Chunuk Bair.

"Gallipoli was no victory, nothing to celebrate. It stands out in our past as a brutal and desolate moment of violence and suffering. And yet, it is part of us. Part of our nation," said Dame Silvia.

She said New Zealanders had nothing to gain from the campaign for Gallipoli.

"It was someone else's war. Turkey was not our enemy."

But Chunuk Bair was where New Zealanders demonstrated the spirit and tenacity learned in their own country, she said.

No one could imagine the suffering the soldiers endured, and there were no glib words of comfort to explain the tragedy on that hilltop.

"The words which might have been used then - empire, honour - seem empty now, devoid of meaning."

While people could never understand their sacrifice, they should acknowledge it, remember it and mourn it.

"They live in our hearts and in our memories. They are with us forever as we gather here, we New Zealanders, once again standing together on Chunuk Bair."

Mr Anderton's speech said the ceremony commemorated the valour and heroism of New Zealand, Australian and Turkish soldiers.

"The memorials here remind us again of the horrors of war and the tragic loss of young lives, which was the price of fighting here."

Mr Anderton will today be remembering Lieutenant Colonel William Malone, the commander of the Wellington Infantry Battalion, who was killed by a shell from the Anzac artillery or a British naval vessel during the battle for Chunuk Bair.

He once tabled a private member's bill calling for the recognition of Colonel Malone's heroism, but it was rejected.

In a letter to his wife before he was killed, the colonel said: "I am prepared for death and hope that God will have forgiven me all my sins."


Herald Feature: Anzac Day

Highlights of the 2002 Anzac photo exhibition: