Media release
6 August 2015
Commemorating Chunuk Bair 100 years on
Auckland Council is hosting a commemorative public service this Saturday 8 August to mark the centenary of the Battle of
Chunuk Bair.
Chunuk Bair, one of the three high points on the Sari Bair range, was a significant offensive in the Gallipoli campaign
and also the first time that the Māori native contingent fought in WWI.
One hundred years on, this heroic battle is remembered as a defining moment in New Zealand’s wartime contribution.
Councillor Mike Lee, member of Auckland Council’s WW100 Political Steering Group and chair of the First World War
Centenary Memorial Working Party, says this service marks the start of a full-day programme organised by Auckland
Museum.
“The capture of Chunuk Bair was a national effort, one of the New Zealand army's greatest feats of arms and the nearest
the Gallipoli campaign came to success.
“Gallipoli and Western Front veteran Ormond Burton said, ‘How men died on Chunuk Bair was determined by how men and
women had lived on the farms and in the towns of New Zealand.’
“It is up to us, the present generation of New Zealanders, to ensure Chunuk Bair is not forgotten and that the heroic
sacrifice of those New Zealand soldiers 100 years ago was not completely in vain,” he says.
Commemorations will remember the Aucklanders that gave their lives at Chunuk Bair and during the Gallipoli campaign,
including Corporal Cyril Bassett. Corporal Basset was the only New Zealander to be awarded a Victoria Cross throughout
the Gallipoli campaign due to his heroic actions cementing crucial communications lines at Chunuk Bair.
The service will mark the start of a full-day programme organised by Auckland War Memorial Museum. The programme will
include a performance from Massive Nui Ensemble, a talk by the Museum‘s pictorial curator Shaun Higgins about images of
New Zealanders at Gallipoli, a special collaboration between poet Jerry Beal and musician Eddie Giesen, and selection of waiata and haka from
Auckland secondary school students.
Chunuk Bair Commemoration Service
Saturday 8 August 2015, 11am
WWI Sanctuary, Auckland Museum
Details of Auckland Museum’s Chunuk Bair programme can be found at:www.aucklandmuseum.com
Read Cr Mike Lee’s piece Chunuk Bair must not be forgotten