Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Clark with the newly unveiled monument to Anzac Day helicopter crash victims at Ohakea.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Clark with the newly unveiled monument to Anzac Day helicopter crash victims at Ohakea.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Anzac Day was commemorated in small gatherings around Whanganui and several ceremonies were held across the wider region.
While the official dawn parade in Whanganui was cancelled this year, everyone in the region had the opportunity to witness the sight of vintage fighter planes flying overhead.
An Air Force Heritage Flight of New Zealand's small fleet including an Avenger, a Spitfire, and two Beechcraft T-6C Texan IIs took off from Ōhakea in the morning and flew over significant sites in Rangitīkei and Whanganui.
A special ceremony was held at Ōhakea Air Force Base to honour the aircrew killed and injured in the Anzac Day helicopter crash at Pukerua Bay, north of Wellington, in 2010.
Corporal Ben Carson, Flight Lieutenant Hayden Madsen and Flight Lieutenant Dan Gregory died in the crash and Sergeant Stevin Creeggan was seriously injured.
A monument was unveiled in a ceremony held at 5.49am which was the time that the Iroquois helicopter crashed into a hillside in cloudy conditions.
The NZ Defence Force was later convicted of breaching health and safety laws which led to the crash.
Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Clark said at Ōhakea yesterday the memorial is not only a tribute to Creeggan and the three men who died but also a reminder that the NZDF can never allow another accident like it again.
The plaque on the monument has four poppies attached - three made in porcelain representing the men who died and one made of brass representing survivor Creeggan.
"The three in porcelain will always remain shiny and new while the brass one will age," said Clark.
He said the rock at the base of the monument was sharp and ragged like the area of the crash site and it is topped with a smooth rock from the Rangitīkei River.
Clark said Creeggan was consulted on the design of the monument and the Ohakea community had input as well. He said it was appropriate to place the monument at the home of the men's No. 3 Squadron RNZAF.
A memorial in honour of the aircrew killed and injured in the 2010 Anzac Day helicopter crash was unveiled at Ohakea.
Photo / Bevan Conley
While a number of small Anzac dawn ceremonies and breakfast gatherings were held in Whanganui, smaller centres held services and Marton RSA president Alan Buckendahl said their service went very well.
"Certainly a lot better than it was the last two years," he said.
In Marton, the dawn parade began at 5.40am on Wellington Rd outside BJW Motors before attendees marched to the parade ground in front of the Marton RSA and Citizens Memorial Hall.
The service began at 6am and was followed by traditional speeches, rum and coffee, tea and nibbles at Cooks Bar Marton in the Opal Lounge.
Buckendahl said the weather was fine and there was a good turnout of people, despite no Defence Force personnel being present after they were told to have parades on bases.
"Our service [on Monday] was held very close to being normal ... the only difference was there was no Defence Force in uniform."
