The Second Battle of Passchendaele, during which 845 New Zealand soldiers died, was the blackest day in New Zealand history. Yet the battle is not well known and most Kiwis will probably go about their lives with no thought of it.
But a small group is trying to put the battle back on the map. The Passchendaele Society has high-flying supporters, including Robyn Malcolm and Professor Glyn Harper. It’s headed by Iain MacKenzie, a former honorary consul to Belgium who cuts a dapper figure in a kilt.
Most Passchendaele commemorations, including films and a ceremony with the Navy band, are being held in Auckland, but the society wants an official national day of remembrance.
New Zealand remembers its fallen and celebrates our nation’s birth on Anzac Day. Anzac Day commemorations began in 1916, with a public holiday from 1921, but old-timers recalled that Armistice Day – November 11, commemorating the 1918 Armistice – used to be a bigger day than it is today.
Today, Armistice Day is barely on our memorial calendar. Anzac Day has sidelined it, the dawn ceremony having been imported from Australia in 1939.
Anzac Day fell away during the 1970s. The war generation and the protest generation saw the world differently, but today Anzac Day is effectively New Zealand’s national day. Bigger crowds than ever attend ceremonies nationwide.
One reason for the focus on Anzac Day was that Gallipoli was the first big shock for both Australians and New Zealanders. Bearing in mind the size of the loss, 2700 dead or one in four of New Zealand’s Force, New Zealanders and Australians have always wanted their own special day.
Britain has at least two memorial days. Every Battle of Britain Day, Spitfires zoom across London’s skies, but Armistice Day is still Britain’s poppy day.
In the United States, Memorial Day recalls the American Civil War, Americans remember the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as “the day of infamy” and September 11 is seared on the American psyche. Germany also has two days from World War I. Continue reading
Sources
- Lawrence Watt in Stuff
- Image: The Belgians Have Not Forgotten