Wreath Laying Ceremony For Armistice Day

New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel will be joined by his Excellency the Governor General of New Zealand the Honorable Anand Satyanand and Susan Satyanand at a wreath laying ceremony at the National War Memorial in Buckle Street, Wellington at 11.00 on Saturday 11 November.

The ceremony will mark the 88thanniversary of the signing of the Armistice and will include a dawn to dusk vigil over the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

Air Vice-Marshal David Bamfield, Vice Chief of Defence Force, will lay a wreath on behalf of the men and women of the NZDF.

A Guard of Honourand catafalque guards comprising personnel from the Army, Navy and Air Force will be paraded in support of the ceremony. The Air Force Central Band will play the National Anthem, a bugle fanfare, reveille and the last post.

Air Vice-Marshal Bamfield said:“This ceremony commemorates the sacrifice of those who died serving New Zealandin the First World War and all subsequent wars. The Great War of 1914-1918 was one of the most devastating events in human history. New Zealand, with a population of 1.1 million in 1914, sent 100,000 men and women abroad,16,700 died and over 40,000 were wounded - a higher per capita casualty rate than any other country involved.”

Armistice Day is the anniversary of the official end of World War I, November 11, 1918. It commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day onthe eleventh month.

The Wellington event precedes the dedication of the New Zealand memorial in Hyde Park, London which will be attended by thousands of New Zealanders including a large contingent of Army, Navy and Air Force personnel.

ENDS

© Scoop Media