Captain Leanne Smith at the Hyde Park Memorial (WN10-00040-082)
by Captain Leanne Smith
I spent Anzac Day 2010 in London and surrounding areas. All available New Zealand Defence Force personnel on Exercise Longlook (a military exchange programme) had gathered in London over the previous days.
The day got off to early start, meeting at the New Zealand Memorial at Hyde Park Corner. The weather was mild and dry; a nice change from most Anzac Services I have attended. The service started at 0500 and was led by Principal Navy Chaplain, Wayne Toleafoa.
Like the Dawn Service at Gallipoli, the London service is shared between Australia and New Zealand, and this year it was New Zealand’s lead.
Prior to his reading Brigadier Phil Gibbons, Head of Defence Staff in London, told us the news of the Iroquois crash which had claimed three lives back in New Zealand. You could sense the sense of sorrow and loss among the assembly of New Zealanders and Australians.
Once the service had concluded there was time to pay our respects at the Australian memorial and sign a Book of Remembrance. Defence Force personnel and their families then moved to New Zealand House on Haymarket for breakfast. It wasn't long before we were off to Cenotaph at Whitehall.
We formed up and marched on to Whitehall to music provided by the Band of the Life Guard. On the first toll of Big Ben striking 0800 the first wreaths were laid by the High Commissioners of New Zealand and Australia. This was followed by the heads of the New Zealand and Australian Defence Staff, Ambassadors and High Commissioners of other Commonwealth countries and representatives of the British Armed forces and ex-service organisations.
On the completion of this service we walked to Westminster Abbey for the Service of Commemoration to mark Anzac Day. This service started at 0900 and was by ticket entry only. The Abbey is an enormous church and has a very rich history.
Hearing the organ, choir and fanfare trumpeters added colour to the service which aptly remembered those that fell in Gallipoli and in subsequent conflicts. It was an experience we won’t forget.
There were flag bearers from New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain and Turkey. The Turkish ambassador read those famous words that are on the memorial at Anzac Cove erected by the Turkish government “...You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
Of all services we attended, the stand out was the beautiful playing of Last Post and rouse by Musician Stephanie Barrett of the Band of the Coldstream Guards. Her playing was flawless and made more special because she was born and raised in Australia.
Other Anzac services were being held around the country by the Gallipoli Association and the Royal British Legion. I was lucky enough to represent the Defence Force at two of these services.
The first was at St Martha’s on the Hill overlooking Chi worth, east of Guildford. This is the site of Lord Freyberg’s resting place alongside his wife Barbara. Each year his daughter-in law, Lady Ivry Freyberg, holds a family service to pay their respects. I arrived at 1530, and walked the steep track up to the church. It was a lovely short service that showed the respect that those in attendance had for such a great leader, soldier and family man.
The other service was at Walton-on-Thames, where I met the local British Legion representatives and church officials before the service started. The reason for the service was to remember the New Zealand soldiers who had died at the Mount Felix Hospital during WWI.
27,000 soldiers were treated at the hospital before either going back into battle or being shipped back to New Zealand. The hospital is no longer there but a service has been held in St Mary’s since 1920 to remember the New Zealand soldiers. Peter Ford from the High Commission attended as did Mark Frickleton, the grandson of Captain Samuel Frickleton,VC.
Captain Frickleton was evacuated to the hospital with the injuries he sustained when he won his Victoria Cross. .
It is amazing how much respect this community still has for the New Zealand soldiers that were at the hospital over 90 years ago and how determined they are to continue the tradition.
After the formalities the evening concluded with a cup of tea and a massive spread of cakes and sandwiches where many stories were shared, with the locals talking of visits to New Zealand, or of promises to visit in the future.
It was a lovely end to what was a very long but memorable day in remembering the fallen.