MEDIA RELEASE 19 October 2006

armistice day

saturday 11 november 2006

Auckland War Memorial Museum is remembering one of the most significant days in our human history with a special commemoration, a significant symposium and a moving pictorial exhibition.

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Commemorative Ceremony

10.25am, Saturday 11 November

World War One Hall of Memories

The First World War was one of the most disastrous events in human history. New Zealand, with a population of 1.1 million in 1914, sent 100,000 men and women abroad - 16,700 died and over 40,000 were wounded, a higher per capita casualty rate than any other country involved.

The coming of peace on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 brought blessed relief for all involved.

Armistice Day has become a universal time of commemoration.

For the New Zealand Military, this is a day of special reverence to reflect on the courage and sacrifice of all those who have died serving New Zealand in World War I and all other armed conflicts. It also propounds a sobering opportunity to remember our service people in other parts of the world, especially those currently serving on operational missions.

Auckland War Memorial Museum will be commemorating Armistice Day with a full commemorative programme. We ask visitors to be in place by 10.25am and ask that they maintain 2 minutes silence at 11am. This will be announced by the ringing of the Museum Bell.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

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Symposium: The Balkan Question – is there an answer in sight?

Friday, 10 November 2005
World War II Hall of Memories

Time: 9am - 4pm

Auckland War Memorial Museum in partnership with Auckland University of Technology (AUT), and the New Zealand Defence Force is proud to present the third annual Armistice Symposium to commemorate the peace struck that signalled the end of World War I – the war to end all wars. This years theme is The Balkan Question – is there an answer in sight? The symposium examines the complex issues of war and peace on differing topic every year, in the hope that the findings will go some way to ensuring that New Zealand need never again build a war memorial such as ours, and that one day there really will be an end to all wars.

This important Symposium has been organised to commemorate the 1918 Armistice struck at the end of the Great War. The spark that ignited the conflagration was lit in Sarajevo, now the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the heart of the Balkans. On 28 June 1914 Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of the Austro–Hungarian Empire, was assassinated next to the Latin Bridge in Sarajevo by Gavril Princip, a Serbian nationalist. Austria declared war on Serbia, and a train of events was set in place which plunged the world into war.

Three quarters of a century after the end of the First World War the region was embroiled in major warfare once more. Tens of thousands of people lost their lives, and millions were forcibly removed from their homes. New Zealand Defence Force personnel were first deployed to the region in 1992 as military observers, and in 1995 the largest deployment of New Zealand forces since Korea was sent to Bosnia – Kiwi Company. To this day a contingent remains in Bosnia, working as part of EUFOR – a European-led stabilisation force of 7000.

As always, the symposium will feature a line-up of speakers second to none including:
- Representatives of Ministry of Defence and World Vision
- Dr Peter Greener, Head of the Division of Public Health and Psychosocial Studies, AUT
- Amira Kapetanovic, Ambassador Bosnia/Herzgovina (based in Canberra)
- Prof Tom Gallagher, Professor Ethnic Conflict, Bradford University
- Wing Commander Bo Palmer, Military Liason Officer, Kosovo
- Terence O'Brien, former New Zealand diplomat and Ambassador to the UN
- Colonel Dave Gawn; Former Commander, Kiwi Company, Bosnia

Armistice is recognised in those Commonwealth countries around the world which fought in the war, but it is often noted more for its lack of rememberance and an awkward minute's silence. This Symposium has been designed as a fitting commemoration for the dashed hopes of the 'war to end all wars', as well as providing an appropriate venue for public discussion of the complex issues involved in defence and conflict resolution.

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Navy Veteran in Focus 1941-2006

MUST CLOSE Sunday 12 November

Pictorial Gallery, Level Two

This is your last chance to view! This photographic exhibition is a collaboration between the Royal New Zealand Navy Museum and Auckland War Memorial Museum in celebration of the Royal New Zealand's Navy 65th anniversary (October 2006) and the Year of the Veteran (2006).

The exhibition features large-scale photographs of Royal New Zealand Navy veterans by artist Nikki Payne, from World War II to recent campaigns and operations in the Persian Gulf, East Timor and Afghanistan, and also presents the veterans’ stories.

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Public Programmes

To commemorate Armistice

Presentation by Warren Cummins

East Timor by Sea - the RNZN's involvement in Operation Stabilise 1999

Wednesday 1 November 7pm

Preview of Exhibition Navy Veterans in Focus 1941 – 2006: Photographs by Nikki Payne from 6pm

$5 ($3members)

Warren Cummins will give a presentation of images and talk about his thoughts of his time in East Timor as he worked with the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) as part of the UN mandated force that initially stabilised Timor after the disastrous national independence elections. In 2002 Warren Cummins graduated from Massey University with distinction with a Masters of Philosophy (Defence and Strategic Studies). He was with the Royal New Zealand Navy until very recently as Captain Fleet Support.

Atamira Dance Collective perform an excerpt of New Work ‘Memoirs of Active Service’

Saturday 11 November, 1.30pm

With choreography by Maaka Pepene

Hall of Memories Gallery

Ka maumahara tonu tatou ki a ratou / We will remember them

Inspired by the 28 Maori Battalion and 1940’s New Zealand, ‘Memoirs of Active Service’ is a tribute to the New Zealand Veterans who gave up so much in the hope for a free world for all. Ake ake kia kaha e

Peace Tree

Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 November, 10am–12pm & 1.30pm–3pm

Treasures & Tales

Celebrate Armistice Day by writing or drawing a wish for peace to add to our Peace Tree.

ENDS

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