RSA marks Chunuk Bair

RGP 06Aug15 - John Bluett, left, and Gavin Shadbolt will be part of the Chunuk Bair commemoration. PHOTO:ANDREW TAYLOR

The Whakatane RSA will commemorate the battle of Chunuk Bair - a pivotal engagement of the Gallipoli campaign - on Saturday with a ceremony at 11am in Mitchell Park.

RSA President John Bluett says that while New Zealanders are very familiar with Gallipoli in general, not many people are aware of Chunuk Bair and its importance.

"Chunuk Bair was of immense tactical importance to the battle plan of the Gallipoli campaign," he says. "It was the highest point on the Peninsular, and the force that held the high ground had ascendency over the Dardanelles."

ANZAC troops briefly captured this high ground and appeared to have victory in sight, but they could not be reinforced and the position was ultimately recaptured by the Turkish side. Chunuk Bair remains the high point - figuratively and literally - of the campaign, and has been immortalised in the play Once on Chunuk Bair.

Mr Bluett says that in addition to it being the 100th anniversary of the battle, recent research by vice president of the RSA Gavin Shadbolt had thrown new light on local connections to the battle and its historical importance.

"Records show that nine local men were killed during the battle, with most casualties on August 8 when the fighting was fiercest," Mr Shadbolt says. "In addition, Lt Col Conrad Saxby, a farmer from Opotiki, was the first Commanding Officer of the Maori Pioneer battalion when it was formed in France, after Gallipoli."

Chunuk Bair is also important because it is likely the first time a haka was performed on a European battlefield.

"It is now known that the haka performed was Ka Mate," says Mr Shadbolt. "We also know that the troops on the beach could hear the haka being performed as each successively higher trench was captured and the New Zealand soldiers advanced on the summit. In total, around 900 New Zealanders died fighting for Chunuk Bair, and to put that in perspective that would have been about the population of Whakatane at that time.

"August was the month in which most of our soldiers died, and it is arguable that the 8 of August should be our national day rather than in April on Anzac day."

The battle will also be commemorated in Opotiki at the Cenotaph at 2.30pm on Saturday. The public is welcome to attend.