100-Gun Salute to Commemorate Beginning of WW1
30 July 2014
100-Gun Salute to Commemorate Beginning of WW1
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), with WW100, New Zealand’s First World War centenary programme, will commemorate the beginning of the First World War for New Zealand next Monday, 4 August.
At 6.45am, Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Jack Steer, Brigadier Peter Kelly, the Acting Chief of Army, and Air Vice-Marshal Mike Yardley, the Chief of Air Force, will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at the National War Memorial in Buckle Street. A catafalque guard will be mounted at the Tomb, the Last Post played, the Ode read, and flags lowered to half-mast.
At 7am, personnel from 16th Field Regiment of the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery will move ten 105mm Howitzer guns into position on the waterfront in front of Te Papa for a 100-Gun Salute. This will be the first time a salute of this magnitude has been fired in over a hundred years. A 101-Gun Salute was fired in 1911 to mark the coronation of King George V. Access to the waterfront where the gun salute will be fired will be restricted from 6.30am. NZDF personnel will be on hand to distribute ear protection and information about the gun salute.
The 100-Gun Salute will be fired at approximately 9.20am as part of the official ceremony at Parliament to mark the beginning of the First World War for New Zealand. Blank ammunition and reduced charges will be used and the salute will be completed in no more than nine minutes.
As part of the Marking the Beginning of the First World War for New Zealand ceremony at 9am, members of the NZDF will be in the grounds of Parliament. Dressed in First World War replica uniforms, they will be positioned at the flagpoles and will lower all flags to half-mast during the ceremony. Three personnel from each Service (Navy, Army and Air Force) in present-day combat uniform will link the NZDF’s history with the modern Defence Force. The Royal New Zealand Air Force Band will provide musical support for the National Anthems and the Last Post ceremony.
The ceremony at Parliament and the 100-Gun Salute will be webcast via WW100’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/WW100nz.
At 5pm, personnel will return to Parliament to strike the flags, by raising them to the top of flagpoles, then lowering them.
DETAILS
What:
Wreathlaying ceremony
When:
6:45am
Where: Tomb of the
Unknown Warrior at the National War Memorial in Buckle
Street
What: 100-Gun
Salute
When: 9:20am
(approximately)
Where: Waterfront in
front of Te Papa
What: Parliament
ceremony
When:
9am
Where: Parliament
grounds
Historical background
In 1914,
Britain’s proclamation of war was read out to an excited
Wellington audience of 15,000 in the grounds of the New
Zealand Parliament by Lord Liverpool, the Governor at the
time. With a sense of duty and adventure, New Zealand men
rushed to sign up to fight for King and country, ready to
cross the globe to reach the European battlefields before
the "short war" ended. Ten percent of our population of one
million served overseas. Of them, more than 18,000 died and
over 40,000 were wounded. Nearly every New Zealand family
was affected.
WW100
WW100 is New
Zealand’s programme for the First World War centenary
2014-2019, a mix of Government-led projects, national and
international commemorations and community-led events and
activities. For more information, visit www.WW100.govt.nz.
100-Gun
Salute information
History of gun
salutes
The firing of salutes grew from naval
tradition. A warship would fire its cannons until all
ammunition aboard was spent, demonstrating it was disarmed
and it had no hostile intent. Today all salutes are fired
with blank cartridges, be they artillery, ship’s guns, or
small arms salutes.
The Gun
The light
gun being used on August 4 is a towed howitzer, the L119
Hamel 105mm Field Gun. It was originally produced for the
British Army in the 1970s and is a variant which has been
manufactured under licence in Australia for the Australian
and New Zealand Armies since 1990. The L119 Hamel 105mm
Field Gun is currently in service with 16 Field Regiment,
based at Linton Military
Camp.
Specifications
Current
Range: 11,400m
Rate of Fire:
Rapid: 6 rds per minute for 1 minute
Normal: 4 rds per
minute for 3 minutes
Sustained: 3 rds per minute for 30
minutes
Height: A Frame Height:
2210mm
Height Folded: 1370mm
Weight (w/o
platform): 1718Kg
Historical uniforms
information
The soldiers will wear the uniform
and insignia of each of the 16 infantry companies, and each
of the 12 Mounted Rifles squadrons that sailed from New
Zealand 100 years ago. The Maori Contingent, the NZ Signal
Corps, NZ Engineering Corps and NZ Army Nursing Service will
also be represented.
The platoon will be equipped with the Long Tom and Lee Enfield Rifles used by the NZEF in 1914.
ENDS