NEW ZEALAND - AUCKLAND New Zealands contribution to the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I is being remembered on Sunday. A commemoration service is being held in the World War I Hall of Memories at Auckland War Memorial Museum at 11am on Sunday in partnership with the Passchendaele Society. Brigadier Peter Kelly from the New Zealand Defence Force will speak, and military, consular and civic dignitaries will lay wreaths. Medals may be worn and the public are invited to lay wreaths or poppies after the dignitaries. Veterans Affairs Minister Craig Foss will also present 17-year-old Siobhan Lenehan from Carmel College in Auckland with a $2000 education grant for winning the 2014 Battle of Passchendaele multi-media competition. The competition was launched in 2011 to ensure New Zealands sacrifice on the Western Front is remembered. Sara Stern from Middleton Grange School in Christchurch and Micaela Meder from Pakuranga College in Auckland are equal runners-up. On two days in October 1917, in the farmlands of Belgium, New Zealand suffered two of its greatest military tragedies. On October 4, 490 New Zealand servicemen were killed and on October 12 there was an even greater loss. Of 3000 casualties on that day, 840 New Zealanders lay dead or dying in the mud and uncut wire before the village of Passchendaele, the museum says. NZN
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 21:10:27 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015