District Civic Service for Armistice Day

Thursday 11 October 2018

At 11 am on the 11th of November this year, we will remember the one-hundredth anniversary of the armistice that ended World War 1.  For the past four years, Central Hawke’s Bay, along with communities across the whole of New Zealand, have been recognising those that lost their lives through Fields of Remembrance.  The white crosses have been a stark and emotional reminder of the sacrifices that were made.

This November, a District Civic Service for the Central Hawke’s Bay District will be held in conjunction with our Returned Servicemen’s Associations of Waipukurau, Waipawa and Takapau. Our Field of Remembrance will include white crosses to honour every one of the more than 200 Central Hawke’s Bay service personnel that lost their lives during WW1 and whom we recognise on our cenotaphs around the District.

“The losses of New Zealand will be signified by 18,277 crosses placed in a Field of Remembrance outside the Auckland War Memorial Museum, to recognise the scale for our whole country.  I think it is important that we gather together to recognise the scale of loss for our whole district one hundred years on”, say Mayor Alex Walker.  “We will remember them".

Crosses will be laid at the Civic Service for those lost in 1918, with crosses representing those lost in 1915, 1916 and 1917 being laid the week before.

The District Civic Service will be held at Nelly Jull Park in Waipawa on Sunday 11 November at 11am, when white crosses representing the loss of 1918 will be laid. Community groups that have hosted their own Fields of Remembrance around the district for the past four years will be asked to participate if they wish.

Mayor Alex Walker noted her appreciation for the support she has received from local RSA’s.  “I would like to thank and acknowledge the support of the Presidents of our local RSAs – Janet Castell from Waipukurau and Districts, Maitland Manning from Waipawa and Districts, and Phillip McNally from Takapau and Districts”.

To keep up to date with details of the Service, the community should follow Council’s weekly Keeping it Central column in the CHB Mail, Councils Facebook Page and website. 

24 October 2018

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