19 October 2018

A month-long commemoration programme to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended fighting on the Western Front during World War One will be open to the public from Saturday, October 20.

New Zealand will be the first country in the world to mark Armistice Day, with Auckland hosting a major commemorative service at The Cenotaph on Sunday, 11 November, at 11am – acknowledging the time and date the guns finally fell silent.

Key information/dates:
• There are 18,277 named crosses representing every New Zealander who died. They are installed on the northern slopes of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira and in front of the Cenotaph.
• The crosses are arranged in blocks by the year that the soldiers and nurses died, with a separate block of 1432 crosses to honour the 693 families who lost more than one child, including a dozen families who loss a pair brothers on the same day, and six families that loss four members during the war.
• The fields will be lit with a combination of spotlights from light fittings located on the Cenotaph grounds, with additional up-lighting to each of the trees around the perimeter of the northern field.
• The North West field which is dedicated to the families that lost 2 or more, features a lone pine tree which will also have feature lighting.
• The Fields of Remembrance also includes displays of some stories of those who were lost.
• The Auckland War Memorial Museum exterior will be illuminated from 4-11 November, featuring a film (looped) onto the northern façade of the building.
• Vector Lights commemorates the Armistice Centenary with a lighting and audio show Auckland Harbour Bridge illumination, 4 – 11 November, 8pm to midnight.
• An information kiosk will be open daily from 10am–6pm.
Timelapse video – Featuring the installation of 18,277 named crosses on the northern slopes of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira and in front of the Cenotaph.

If you have any specific filming requests, please call Chris Gregory to discuss. Media accreditation will be required for the commemoration on 11 November, and details regarding that will be sent at a later date.

Notes to editors

The Fields of Remembrance is the final, and largest, installation by the Fields of Remembrance Trust (FoRT), a partnership between the Auckland RSA, National RSA and the Passchendaele Society.

The Fields of Remembrance Trust is working alongside Ngāti Whātua, Auckland Council, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, Eden Park Trust and the New Zealand Defence Force.

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