A Very Special Armistice Day for New Zealand

Today New Zealand has celebrated an incredibly special Armistice Day, with the capital city, Wellington, coming to a standstill for the service, proscession and burial of an unknown soldier.

The soldier, a member of the New Zealand Army, was killed in France in 1916, but has remained unknown. He was among 400 unknown soldiers New Zealand lost in WWI – out of the 18,000 plus killed from this country. New Zealand sent 100,444 men to WWI, from a country with a population less than a million. Almost 1/5th of them died, many thousands more were wounded.

This one soldier was selected to be exhumed, transported by the RNZAF back to New Zealand, and buried in a special plae, The Tomb Of The Unknown Warrior, at the National Cenotaph in Wellington. Unlike most countries, NZ has never had a tomb like this, despite the Royal New Zealand Returned Services Association trying to get this done for more than 60 years.

There are more than 33,000 New Zealanders lying in foreign fields, 1/3rd of whom are in unmarked graves. Now one is home, to represent them all, including the WWII airmen whom I have such an interest in.

I watched the Cathedral service this morning live on television, followed by an hour long slow march procession through the streets of Wellington, and the final burial in his newly built tomb. The coverage lasted 3 and a half hours, and was one of the most moving events I have ever witnessed. It was one of the greatest national events, and it showed our Army, Navy and Air Force are superb at such occasions.

What got to me most, and everyone seems stunned by this, last night the soldier lay in state in the New Zealand Parliament building. Apparently there was a constant stream of people of all ages, families, all sorts, filing through to pay their respects right through the entire night. People were still cuing to get in at 4 and 5 in the morning. Stunning.

And the number of people that lined the route of the procession amazed me. This has to be the biggest state funeral this country has had in a very, very long time – perhaps the largest ever.

I know there are several posters here from Wellington – did anyone go to the event?

For me the moving television broadcast sufficed very well, and I am not afraid to say that on several occasions tears came to my eyes during the coverage. Today I am truly proud to be a Kiwi.