Speech: Peters - Anzac Day
ANZAC Day Service
Kerikeri RSA
10 am, 25 April
2016
“How We Should Remember
Them”
Wars and the
effects of wars live with us.
New Zealand like many other
nations is remembering the so called war to end all wars
–World War One.
In August 2014 we remembered the start
of World War One; last year we commemorated the tragic Anzac
campaign at Gallipoli which some historians credit as being
a time which helped define us as a nation.
And today in
many parts of the world wherever New Zealanders and
Australians are they will stop to share this day in
commemoration and tribute to enormous sacrifice.
Later
this year we will recall the Battle of the Somme in which
our troops served and in which so many died.
New Zealand
troops entered the battle in mid-September 1916 and by the
end of it over 2000 were dead and nearly 6000
wounded.
Barely two decades later the Second World War
brought more sorrow to this country.
Again thousands of
our service personnel gave their lives and were left to lie
in lonely graves distant from their homes and loved
ones.
Not many of those lucky enough to come home from
World War II are left now but again the impact of that
conflict lives with us.
Today we acknowledge the
contribution our service veterans have made – not just in
the two world wars but in Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, Kuwait,
Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Timor and R.A.M.S.I. and the many
other theatres to which our service personnel have been
deployed.
New Zealand currently has 31,000 veterans of
whom 11,000 come from the period after World War II up to
the Vietnam War - 20,000 of those veterans served after
Vietnam.
In remembering those who have served our country
abroad we should also remember their families and do our
best to understand the frustrations of those who serve in
the military and the agony of their loved ones. We should
do all we can to comprehend the ordeal and tribulation of
military personnel and, dare it be said, ensure that
Governments and bureaucrats share that understanding.
It
is the duty of all of us to remind whoever is in power of
their responsibilities to these personnel.
A letter
written 204 years ago images just how disconnected some in
power can become from the personnel they have sent to war or
placed in harm’s way.
The Duke of Wellington was a much
decorated general who defeated Napoleon twice and who, to
many in the era, defined the British character.
Nevertheless, he still had to answer a flurry of petty
questions generated by bureaucrats in London. The following
is a letter he wrote to the National Office in 1812 in
response to some trifling expenses for which he was being
held accountable:
“Gentlemen,
Whilst marching
from Portugal to a position which commands the approach to
Madrid and the French forces, my officers have been
diligently complying with your requests which have been sent
by H.M. ship from London to Lisbon and thence by dispatch to
our headquarters.
We have enumerated our saddles,
bridles, tents and tent poles, and all manner of sundry
items for which His Majesty’s Government holds me
accountable. I have dispatched reports on the character,
wit, and spleen of every officer. Each item and every
farthing has been accounted for, with two regrettable
exceptions for which I beg your indulgence.
Unfortunately
the sum of one shilling and ninepence remains unaccounted
for in one infantry battalion’s petty cash and there has
been a hideous confusion as the number of jars of raspberry
jam issued to one cavalry regiment during a sandstorm in
western Spain. This reprehensible carelessness may be
related to the pressure of circumstance, since we are at war
with France, a fact which may come as a bit of a surprise to
you gentlemen in Whitehall.
This brings me to my present
purpose, which is to request elucidation of my instructions
from His Majesty’s Government so that I may better
understand why I am dragging an army over these barren
plains. I construe that perforce it
must be one of two
alternative duties, as given below. I shall pursue either
one with the best of my ability, but I cannot do both:
1.
To train an army of uniformed British clerks in Spain for
the benefit of the accountants and copy-boys in London or
perchance.
2. To see to it that the forces of Napoleon
are driven out of Spain.
Your most obedient
Servant
Wellington”
In remembering the suffering and
losses of war, let us commit ourselves to working for a
world where differences between nations can be resolved
without resort to war.
That is the way that we can best
honour the men and women who have served, who have fought
and who have died.
ENDS