Andrew Little: Memorial should honour war hero Lieutenant Colonel William Malone

Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone led the New Zealand attack on Chunuk Bair during the Gallipoli campaign in World War I. Photo / supplied

Labour leader Andrew Little says the new Pukeahu National War Memorial Park should have a monument in it to honour Lieutenant Colonel William Malone, whom he called one of the New Zealand's greatest war heroes.

He also said the Anzac spirit meant many things to him: bravery, fidelity and perseverance.

Colonel Malone led the Wellington Battalion to take Chunuk Bair at Gallipoli after the Auckland Battalion was destroyed during a daylight attack on it.

He refused to send his men immediately after Auckland's decimation and waited until just before dawn to capture it on August 8, 1915.

Of the 760 men who Colonel Malone led, only 70 remained and Colonel Malone himself was killed, thought to have been hit by friendly fire from a New Zealand howitzer.

Mr Little said Colonel Malone's leadership and reputation was left tarnish by the British military authorities.

"It is proper that 100 years later he is re-established as a great New Zealand hero."

Colonel Malone was born in Lewisham, Kent, in England in 1859 and arrived in Taranaki in 1880 and he later became a farmer and lawyer in Stratford.

He was a former member of the Armed Constabulary at Opunake and took part in the raid on Parihaka in November 1881.

Mr Little is in Gallipoli for tomorrow's centennial commemorations.

He said in a statement that the real lesson of Gallipoli was "to never forget and to never repeat such a senseless waste of life.

"This weekend I will walk through the battlefields of Anzac and stand on perhaps the saddest of them all, Chunuk Bair.

"A horrific 2779 New Zealanders died in this battle. While it is proper and right to remember them, it is also important that we never allow another Gallipoli."

Mr Little said the Anzac spirit meant many things to him - "bravery - to fight alongside your fellow soldiers and to stand up to those leaders who sent young men and women into a warzone they wouldn't survive; it means fidelity, to your country and family; and it is perseverance and a sense of justice for all."

"This weekend I will be especially remembering close family members who died at Gallipoli, and placing poppies on the graves of my wife Leigh's family."