Jill Nicholas: Gallipoli veterans' children left out

The children of Anzac soldiers who perished at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli have been neglected by history.

Before anyone else says it, I will - that Nicholas woman's back on her hobby horse. I am and make no apologies for it.

Almost a year ago I rode that horse through this newspaper's pages tilting at the Government for reneging on its original undertaking that Gallipoli veterans' children would have first dibs on passes to Anzac Cove for this year's centennial celebrations.

I said then I'd sucked up missing out; moved on.

What I can't move on from is the lack of inclusion of Gallipoli vets' children in this city's various commemorations and celebrations.

What's been overlooked is we're closer than anybody to the men who made history 100 years ago on Saturday - the last, most immediate living link.

The Te Arawa Returned Services League recognises this and we're honoured to be included in the dawn parade's wreath-laying.

For me it confirms the importance to Maoridom of whakapapa (roots); others simply don't get it where Gallipoli vets' kids are concerned.

Approaches to the RSA and the 1914 committee for us, the most direct of all descendants to be included in their planning, hasn't been embraced, our hoped-for participation sidelined.

The RSA says it's not been in a position to locate vets' children. It shouldn't have been too difficult, to the best of my knowledge there are a mere handful of us locally. Whatever happened to "lest we forget"? It's only 17 years since the country's final surviving Gallipoli campaigner, Rotorua's Doug Dibley, died - he was accorded a home-town military funeral.

It wouldn't have taken a Sherlock Holmes to establish his son, Eddie Dibley, is very much alive, well and living near Ngongotaha. If anyone deserves pole position at Anzac centenary celebrations it's Eddie - as the Te Arawa Leagues recognised.

One of our number, Peter Christie, will be at Gallipoli as April 25 dawns there. You'll meet another, Aileen MacKay, an Aussie digger's daughter, in Saturday's Our People profile in the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend.

A suggestion some months ago to a member of the 1914 committee that a vet's child be included in its number met with a dismissive "why?"

A more recent approach to another member about our playing a part in planned events brought the response that we'd rather "missed the boat".

That simply doesn't cut it with me; to state the obvious, marking the Gallipoli landings has been 100 years in the making. Nor was I impressed with his suggestion we "hold fire" until 2018 when the centenary of our fathers' homecomings will (hopefully) be marked.

Of course we'll be cheering then; we wouldn't be here if they hadn't returned but, realistically, none of us are in the first flush of youth, by then we may not be around.

Compare our local organisations' off-hand attitude to the British Government's generosity to the Gallipoli campaign's cross-generation descendants in the UK.

There's to be a place for them at the Hyde Park dawn service; balloted passes for the Whitehall Cenotaph parade and a Westminster Abbey service were offered.

Those whose number didn't come up are invited to watch live coverage at New Zealand House, where the UK-NZ Society's hosting an Anzac Day reception.

As someone said the other day, "the Brits do this sort of thing so much better than we do".

Indeed they do.

-If you know of a Gallipoli veteran's son or daughter living in the Rotorua district I've unintentionally overlooked please let me know by emailing news@dailypost.co.nz.