Taranaki student on way to Gallipoli

Taranaki student on way to Gallipoli after winning The National Bank RSA Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition

Wellington: New Plymouth student Cervantee Wild of Sacred Heart Girls’ College today won the national final of The National Bank RSA Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition and will travel to Gallipoli with the New Zealand Defence contingent for Anzac Day.

Veteran’s Affairs Minister Judith Collins announced Cervantee had won after the eight regional finalists spent the morning delivering their speeches at the National War Memorial in Wellington.

Cervantee will now travel to Gallipoli with the New Zealand Defence contingent, will attend the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove, and will be the official New Zealand Youth Representative and recite The Ode at the New Zealand Service at Chunuk Bair.

She paid tribute to her fellow contestants and said it would be an “amazing honour’’ to be a New Zealand representative at Gallipoli.

The National Bank RSA Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition is a partnership between the RSA and The National Bank, aimed at promoting among young people a deeper understanding and appreciation of the sacrifices made by those who have served New Zealand in wars and armed conflicts overseas.
It is also a tribute to Cyril Bassett, VC, (1892-1983) who was the only New Zealander at Gallipoli to be awarded the Victoria Cross, and who worked his entire c areer at The National Bank . Members of his old regiment, the 1st New Zealand Signal Regiment, also attended today’s final.

RSA National President Don McIver was in awe of the talent and passion of the young finalists and said that Cervantee Wild was outstanding and brought home how connected young people are to our Anzac heritage.

“Reciting the Ode is a privilege I know Cervantee, an impressive young New Zealander, will undertake with humility and as we have seen by her performance here today, she will appreciate the significance of being at Gallipoli this Anzac Day.

ANZ New Zealand Managing Director Retail Kerri Thompson said the standard of speeches was impressive and a credit to the students and to their schools.

“Congratulations to Cervantee and to all the talented young finalists from around New Zealand who gave us speeches of such high calibre. The National Bank is immensely proud to be part of this competition in honour of Cyril Bassett VC who was one of hundreds of our staff who served New Zealand overseas, many paying the ultimate sacrifice.”

Cervantee will travel to Gallipoli with the New Zealand Defence contingent, will attend the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove, and will be the official New Zealand Youth Representative and recite The Ode at the New Zealand Service at Chunuk Bair. She will also receive an additional $1,000 for travel expenses and a laptop and digital camera to record her experience.

Regional winners of The National Bank RSA Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition won a National Bank account worth $1000, and youth RSA membership, while their school also received $1000.

About Cyril Bassett VC
Cyril Bassett won his VC for bravery as a member of the New Zealand Divisional Signals Company (now known as 1st New Zealand Signal Regiment) . One historian summed Mr Bassett’s contribution thus: “No VC on the (Gallipoli) Peninsula was more consistently earned…this was not for one brilliant act of bravery, but for a full week of ceaseless devotion.”

One historian summed Mr Bassett’s contribution at Gallipoli in 1915:

“During the ferocious battle for Chunuk Bair, Mr Bassett and a handful of companions laid and subsequently repaired a telephone wire to the front line. In full daylight and under continuous and heavy fire, Bassett 'dashed and then crept, then dashed and crept again, up to the forward line'. The lines were cut again and again, but Bassett and his fellow linesmen went out day and night to mend them. He was always modest about his actions, later claiming, 'It was just that I was so short that the bullets passed over me.'

He reportedly was always reluctant to talk about the VC award saying, 'All my mates ever got were wooden crosses.'

In Cyril Bassett’s honour, The National Bank RSA Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition invites Year 12 and year 13 secondary school students to pay tribute to the men and women who made sacrifices, and in many cases died, in the service of New Zealand.

Students competed in regional competitions, and then a national final in the lead-up to ANZAC Day 2010.

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