Thought For The Week 28 April 2024

Anzac Day message from Defence Force Chaplain Rev Chris Purdie

We in New Zealand do remember and pay tribute to all those people who have sacrificed their lives in the cause of war against tyranny, and for our freedoms, and it’s right and important that we do so. So, we remember the people and the families of those people, and yet, by contrast we have lost sight of things closer to that time – the importance of war memorials.

I think we have forgotten why memorial stones in the town square, on the wall of the church, at the memorial gate at the school, the rugby ground, or at the municipal gardens are important.

These memorials are important because for many years after the significant wars in our country’s history – WW1, WW2 and Korea – they were the only place where the name of the deceased was publicly remembered in the community from which they came.

Why? Because there was no grave for them in New Zealand.

In those wars, military personnel were buried where they died, a whole world away in Belgium, in France, in Turkey or in the North Sea, or on an Island in the Pacific. From those wars no caskets came home. No remains, no casket, no grave, no headstone, and therefore no place to mourn or to remember them by.

All that the families would have received back then was a telegram, which informed them of the death of their loved one. Later, the family might have received a letter from the unit commander or the unit chaplain explaining some of the circumstances of their death and possibly some words about their actions or their character. Maybe sent with it some personal items – their dog tag, a watch, a ring, some letters – mere bric-a-brac of their existence.

In the hard times of these wars, and in the following years, ANZAC Day wasn’t just a day of remembering, it was a funeral procession to the local memorial for family and veterans alike – to the only place where the existence of these people was recognised and visible.

I am honoured as a Presbyterian Military Chaplain to participate in services at memorials on ANZAC Day, and to bring dignity and mana to those occasions in order that we are able to remember the  fallen with their due respect. As time goes on it’s important to remind ourselves that not so long ago these carved names were people who were known personally to those who stood here.

Lest we forget.

Rev Chris Purdie