Tararua Mayor Tracey Collis and Tararua District Council chief executive Bryan Nicholson present the council wreath to Dannevirke RSA secretary Monique Ashford at Wednesday's Armistice Day ceremony.
Tararua Mayor Tracey Collis and Tararua District Council chief executive Bryan Nicholson present the council wreath to Dannevirke RSA secretary Monique Ashford at Wednesday's Armistice Day ceremony.
By Sue Emeny
At 11am on Wednesday, November 11 as the siren sounded in Dannevirke, an Armistice Day service began.
It was the 102nd Armistice Day marking the end of World War I.
The flags are raised at the conclusion of Wednesday's Armistice Day commemoration at Dannevirke Domain.
Dannevirke and Districts RSA president Major Roly Ellis said on Monday the Te Rehunga cenotaph was rededicatedat Ruahine School.
"It was a great occasion for both young and old to remember those who had left this district and never came home.
"This permanent memorial will now be there for all the children passing through the school to understand what has happened over the years to those who served their country."
Ellis said last year he and his wife Phillipa attended the 75th commemoration at Sint Anthonis in Holland where his uncle had been laid to rest beside three other British servicemen in a quiet spot in the local church cemetery.
"All over the world many thousands of serving personnel from Commonwealth countries are buried many miles from home, including many New Zealanders who have fallen in the realms of peace, through various wars and peacekeeping situations.
"We are so lucky that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission keeps these cemeteries immaculate in many places around the world.
"We stand here today to remember that we are the fortunate ones and to remember all those names on the many cenotaphs in New Zealand of those who lost their lives and those who have suffered through war."
Soldiers Lajos Varga and Andrew Cooper were members of the Catafalque Party provided by the1st Battalion RNZIR.
RSA Ron Ashford said many people thought Armistice Day marked the end of World War I but in reality it marked the beginning of the end of the war, and was a prelude to peace negotiations.
