Crews unite to honour ANZAC Day

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Remembrance Day Ceremony onboard HMNZS TE KAHA. Photo by LS Mike Goluboff, MARPAC Imaging Services

Lt(N) Melissa Kia, MARPAC PAO ~

At 10 a.m. on April 24, the crew from HMNZS Te Kaha bowed their heads as silence fell and the ensign was lowered.

Together with members from Maritime Forces Pacific they acknowledged ANZAC Day (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Day), a national remembrance of lives lost during the First World War, in particular at the battle for ANZAC Cove on Gallipoli in 1915.

The warship is alongside a jetty in HMC Dockyard at CFB Esquimalt, awaiting major maintenance at the shipyard across the harbour.

A similar solemn ceremony also took place in their homeland and in Australia on the other side of the world.     

The service was conducted in both Mauri and English – a reminder of the deep relationship New Zealand shares with its First Nations.

Accompanying, Commander Steve Lenik, Commander of Te Kaha, as he laid a wreath at the foot of a cross on the deck was Captain (Navy) Clive Butler.

“The importance of allies cannot be overstated today as we stand with the Royal Canadian Navy, just as we stood with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment all those years ago,” said Cdr Lenik. “We are all brothers and sisters in arms who know the importance of the law and order it takes for us all to live in peace and freedom.”

As the last note from the bugler subsided, the New Zealand crew laid their poppies at the base of the wreath, marking the end of the service.

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