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Britain and Germany have joined together for a special Armistice Day commemoration at Parliament this evening (Tuesday Nov 11).

More than 170 people turned out at the Grand Hall at Parliament to watch a special community theatre performance commissioned by the British Council and the Goethe-Institut, the cultural agencies of Britain and Germany.

The performance involved non-professional actors taking the stage for the first time to present reflections on how the Great War affected women.

It was developed by Voice Arts Trust and titled “Women and WW1 – He Aha Te Utu – the true cost”. Trust Director Nicola Pauling said it was a unique opportunity for women to explore their personal historical and emotional connections to the events of WW1.

British High Commissioner Jonathan Sinclair said the Armistice Day commemoration was important.

“The centenary of the Great War is a unique opportunity to rediscover why remembrance matters; to bring us together more closely as modern partners and allies, and to ensure that the lessons learnt – the need to resolve conflict and the debt we owe to those who lost their lives and the sacrifices made – will not be forgotten.”

German Ambassador Dr Anne-Marie Schleich said war stories often focused on battle field casualties, and often forgot the terrible price paid by those who lived in conditions of famine and fear.

“Those who died in battle; they were all men -- or should I say, many were teenagers who belonged to someone – they had mothers, sisters, girlfriends, wives. Some had children.

Host MP Annette King said that with 16,697 New Zealanders killed in WW1, and just over 41,000 wounded, New Zealand had one of the highest casualty and death rates per capita of any country involved.

She said that even though New Zealand’s first act of “service” was to seize what was then German Samoa in a bloodless occupation, there were nevertheless many casualties – 7500 Samoans died of influenza in 1918, due to poor health administration.

The three speakers all spoke about the close and warm relationship the three countries enjoy.

As well as the theatre performance, the commemoration involved a book launch by Waiheke author Tina Blackman, who traced the impact of war on her own family tree in The Three Uncles.

It details the true story of four brothers from a Gloucestershire family who fought on the
Western Front during The Great War. Tragically, three of them did not survive.

After the war, like many families in a similar situation, the Cole family coped in part by rarely discussing their traumatic loss. The author has delved into many sources including family papers, war documents and extensive archival material to painstakingly piece together the story of the Cole Brothers.

The story travels from the Somme, to the skies above the Western Front; from the Battle of Passchendaele to the town of Brimscombe where dreaded telegrams would arrive.

The Armistice Day event is the first time women’s role during WW1 has been the specific focus of parliamentary commemorations in New Zealand.

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