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A Day to Remember: 11 November 2004
Memorial Service
Held in the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul was attended by Her Excellency
the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief Dame Silvia Cartwright, the
Prime Minister Helen Clark, military chiefs, diplomats and over 1000 invited
guests.
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| The Unknown Warrior is carried into
the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. |
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[R-L] Past RNZRSA National President
David Cox and current National President John Campbell at the Memorial
Service. |
Funeral Procession
At the conclusion of the Memorial Service, the Unknown Warrior was carried
shoulder high from the Cathedral through an Honour Guard of Distinguished
Veterans and placed on a gun carriage to be processed through the streets
of Wellington to his final resting place at the National War Memorial.
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| Members of the RSA Honour Guard outside the Wellington
Cathedral pay their respects as the casket leaves for the National
War Memorial. |
Crowds in excess of 100,000 lined the streets paying silent homage to
the remains of the soldier who had come home from the battlefields of
the Western Front after nearly 90 years to represent all New Zealanders
who have died in conflict overseas.
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| The Funeral Procession on its way to
the National War Memorial. |
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Veterans and invited guests watch as
the cortege arrives at the National War Memorial. |
Internment Ceremony
At the National War Memorial, various members of the RNZRSA took part
in the service. Mr Tamati Paraone, President of 28 Maori Battalion recited
the Ode in Maori, followed by the English version by National RNZRSA President
John Campbell. The choir of the Dunedin RSA sang “In Flanders Field”
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| IN FLANDERS FIELDS THE POPPIES BLOW:
To commence the internment ceremony, the Dunedin RSA Choir sang a
musical arrangement of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's immortal poem
In Flanders Fields |
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WE WILL REMEMBER THEM: RNZRSA National
President John Campbell recites the Ode to the Fallen. |
In her eulogy, Dame Silvia Cartwright said:
Here is the young New Zealander who takes this place of honour
for himself, and for those in his own or any war we have been a part
of, where what we value, and what defined us, was defended. In honouring
him, we honour too his family, their memories of a place and a time,
with that saddest of words, ‘unknown’.
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| The Governer-General and Commander-in-Chief
places a rose of remembrance into the Tomb. |
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Many veterans were present in the crowds
at the National War Memorial. |
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| EARTH TO EARTH, DUST TO DUST, ASHES
TO ASHES: Principal Defence Chaplain Colonel Julian Wagg pronounces
the Committal as the casket is slowly lowered into the Tomb. |
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Rt Hon Helen Clark, NZ Prime Minister
pays her respects to the Unknown Warrior. |
After the casket was lowered into the tomb, each of the eight District
Presidents of the RSA, placed samples of soil, sand, sea shells and other
geological items into the tomb to represent those service personnel from
their districts that had given their lives to the nation.
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| Archie Dixon, RSA District President
Northland, places sand, shells and flora from the northern region
of New Zealand into the Tomb. |
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Rick Williams, RSA District President
Nelson-Marlborough, places sand, shells and flora from his region
of the South Island into the Tomb. |
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