70th Anniversary Of The Battle Of The River Plate
70th Anniversary Of The Battle Of The River Plate
Hon
Heather Roy, Associate Minister of Defence
Friday,
December 11 2009
Hon Heather Roy address to Mess
Dinner to Honour veterans of the Battle of the River Plate;
The Wellington Club, The Terrace, Wellington; Friday,
December 11 2009.
Mess President Commander Brown; Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Hon Chris Finlayson; Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Tony Parr; Rear Admiral (Retd) David Ledson; President of the River Plate Veteran’s Association Mr Bob Batt; veterans and caregivers; ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for the invitation to this commemoration of the Battle of the River Plate. It is a great pleasure to join you in honouring the memory of all those who fought in this significant event in New Zealand naval history. Seventy years have passed but Kiwis are still proud of HMS Achilles and her crew, represented here tonight by the presence of six veterans of the battle: Bob Batt, Graham Bennett, Vince McGlone, Eddie Telford, Albert Evans and Arthur Hunt.
I was supplied detailed notes for use tonight about the ships and the battle. However, I decided not to use them because I figured that, in the company of subject matter experts such as yourselves, there is little of nautical note that can be added by someone, like myself, whose most significant maritime command was an army Kevlar assault craft.
Instead, I intend to focus on the people. What is it about the Battle of the River Plate that etched it into our national memory? Certainly, the removal of the threat to our sea lanes was important however, more significant in my view, was the effect it had in boosting morale - a major element of combat power.
New Zealanders were rightly proud of the crew and their bravery in battle. The ship received a hero’s welcome when she returned to New Zealand in February 1940 and as many as 100,000 Kiwis lined Queen Street to cheer the crew as they marched to the Town Hall for a civic reception. I’m sure that the men here who marched in that parade will never forget the day and that, while you had a lump in your throat, you were taller at the end of the street than you were when you stepped off.
Someone tried to convince me recently, absolutely deadpan, that the reception for the Achilles crew was the origin of that most kiwi of terms - "Ladies, a plate please". I wasn’t taken in for long but it does serve to highlight my second point. Your return home from battle gave hope for every wife, parent, child and friend of a serviceman or woman overseas in World War II, that they too would someday welcome their loved ones home alive.
Let us not forget that not all who sailed on Achilles came home alive and we remember tonight Able Seaman Shaw from Rotorua and Ordinary Seaman Grant from Dunedin, whose names are recorded in perpetuity on the RNZN Memorial at Devonport.
I am in no doubt that the legacy of this battle lives on today in the ethos, values and standards of the Royal New Zealand Navy. But let us never forget that Achilles was a warship. A maritime nation without a combat-capable navy is as much an anachronism now as it would have been in 1939. A navy without warships is a coastguard.
The New Zealand Defence Force of today is a small, effective force that is making an important contribution to security in our region and around the world. In all these operations, our Navy plays a major role. Frigates have patrolled the Arabian Gulf, and the waters around East Timor. Our sailors serve with other personnel, as part of the joint operations model that is now the norm, all around the world.
A veteran of the frigates that served in the Korean War bailed me up on this point in an RSA recently. He told me that he had, at one point been sent ashore on a patrol. He was concerned about seeing sailors patrolling in DPMs on TV and said earnestly, "don’t you know there’s nothing more dangerous than a sailor with a gun in his hand?"
Seriously though, I wish to emphasise that ‘joint’ does not equal ‘same’ and I pointed out to a group a while ago that purple clothing should be left for drag queens. Each service has its own whakapapa and kaupapa. When these are blended, we get the synergy that is needed in exactly the same way a multi-cultural nation that embraces its differences achieves so much more.
As we finish the current Defence Review and bring the last of the Project Protector fleet into service, we will have achieved two significant milestones. However, we have to acknowledge that Defence Forces are vital but expensive national assets. We will need to sail, march and fly smarter in the future if we are to maintain the capability to protect our citizens and our resources. This will mean much greater emphasis on functional treaties and alliances as well as greater use of Reservists and industry partnerships.
As the senior service, I know that the RNZN will step up to this challenge and lead the way - just like the brave and daring crew of HMS Achilles and so many other New Zealand warships did over the years. In both political and naval terms, one might well toast to: "A willing foe and sea room."
And given that you all know what the toast for Saturday is - may the morning find you at least at par. I wish you all fair winds and a following sea.
ENDS