A special dawn flight will honour New Zealand's fallen soldiers and those still serving this Anzac Day. Photo / 123rf
Flight NZ101 will travel its normal route from Auckland to Sydney today but it will also take on a special meaning from the normal jump across the ditch.
The Air New Zealand flight will be commemorating fallen soldiers in a collaboration with the Auckland War Memorial Museum for the first time.
The flight, which will depart at dawn, will have each seat on the plane honouring a different serviceperson. Before take-off, Petty Officer Musician Colin Clark of the Royal New Zealand Navy band will play the Last Post at the boarding gate.
It will be an emotional journey for many on the plane, with Staff Sergeant Tina Grant flying in honour of her husband, who was the first Kiwi soldier serving with New Zealand forces to be killed in combat in the Afghanistan war.
Corporal Douglas “Duggy” Grant completed multiple deployments with the New Zealand Army to places such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Timor-Leste, as well as two tours of Afghanistan, the second as a member of the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS).
During his service, Douglas was frequently tasked with gathering intelligence, using his drawing skills to sketch buildings and landscapes of strategic interest.
On August 19, 2011, he was killed in action in Kabul during an operation responding to an insurgent attack at the British Council compound. He was 41 years old.
In the days after his death, Grant said it felt like she was living in a haze as she tried to make sense of the grief. She learned it was even harder once she was forced to adjust to creating a new life for her and their two children.
They had been in the process of moving from Tokomaru to Auckland when she received the news and it became a traumatic time of upheaval for the family.
“When you’ve got two little kids that have just lost their dad in a new place, in a new city with no friends, it becomes quite hard,” she said.
“We had amazing support initially, but then afterwards there were tricky days because everybody goes back to their own lives, their own jobs, their own families and you’re left to mark time and find a new path forward,” she said.
Since Douglas’ death, Grant has become an advocate for improved long-term support for bereaved military families and has helped to establish the New Zealand Families of the Fallen Charitable Trust.
She said grief from a sudden death could often take longer to process because there were a lot of unanswered questions after losing someone without warning.
“Things like I never knew what Douglas’ favourite colour was. So when the tangi happened, it was what colour should the flowers be?
“Those are things that you can’t prepare for, but if someone is ill and you’ve got time to spend with them, then you can ask and talk about those things. It‘s just a different journey and you’re always left wondering why.”
She said the meaning of Anzac Day, especially for those in uniform, was not just about remembering those who had fallen since World War I but to recognise people who were still serving and all contemporary soldiers.
Anzac Day was a time to educate younger generations and reflect on the sacrifices of what a person in uniform does for their country, but also on the sacrifices families made to support soldiers in the field, she said.
“Families and partners are the backbone of the military because when our soldiers are deployed, there’s one person left behind that holds the fort. Behind every successful soldier I believe there’s always a person at home keeping the fires burning,” she said.
Today’s flight will also honour stories from the museum’s Online Cenotaph, which records New Zealand military service over the past 127 years across a range of conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
An Anzac biscuit and a commemorative edition of Air NZ’s Kia Ora magazine with the individual story of a New Zealander who served in the past or present will be placed on each seat of the plane.
Air New Zealand chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer Kiri Hannifin said she hoped through this flight, veterans and their families felt their histories were valued and that passengers took a moment to reflect on the individual stories on board.
The dawn plane ride was a way to celebrate Anzac Day but Grant felt it would also be a lovely surprise for all the passengers on the flight not expecting the service.
“I’m hoping on the plane ride there’ll be tears of joy and celebration,” she said.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.