The best of young speechmaking talent will be head-to-head at the Wanganui RSA tomorrow .
Year 12 and 13 students will be speaking on the subject of "New Zealanders At War" as part of the ANZ RSA Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition at the Wanganui RSA. The students come from12 schools around the North Island, including Wanganui Collegiate School.
Last year's national winner was Wanganui Collegiate's Jonathan Brumley, whose topic was Sergeant Haane Te Rauawa Manahi of the 28th Maori Battalion, who was passed over for a Victoria Cross despite bravery at the Battle of Takrouna in 1943.
The winners of the regional finals go to the nationals in Wellington on March 27. The grand prize is a trip to Gallipoli.
The competition is named for Cyril Bassett, an employee of The National Bank (now part of ANZ) and the first New Zealander awarded the Victoria Cross in World War I. He served at Gallipoli as a sapper and was later twice wounded fighting on the Western Front.
Stephen Clarke, chief executive of the RNZRSA, said the competition had been running for two years and it had been a privilege to see young people pay tribute to those who served.
"It is through our young people that the legacy of the Anzacs will be passed on to the next generation. This contest has shown that their memory, and the Anzac values of courage, compassion, camaraderie and commitment is in good hands."
It is 98 years since the Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey where more than 2700 New Zealanders were killed and 4700 wounded.
