Birthplace of a nation
A record-breaking crowd of more than 20,000 attended this year’s dawn service at Anzac Cove. Also in attendance were Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Helen Clark, John Howard and Prince Charles, each of whom paid moving tribute to those who fell at Gallipoli 90 years ago. “It was here that our young nations began to come of age, it was here that we began to think of ourselves not just as servants of the British Empire but as distinct national identities,” said Clark. Early April saw the premiere of Turkish-made documentary Gallipoli by Tolga Ornek. Narrated by Sam Neill and Jeremy Irons, the film combines real footage, stills and re-enactments with previously unseen letters and diaries of soldiers to create a view of the disastrous campaign from all sides.
(25 April 2005)

Epic moments remembered
The world commemorated the 60th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, with war veterans and international leaders (including PM Helen Clark) gathering in France to pay their respects. NZ lost more soldiers proportionately than any other country in the battle. 11 NZ veterans attended the event, including the legendary pilot John Pattison. A month previously veterans gathered to remember the battle of Monte Cassino, one of the bloodiest and most devastating encounters of WW2. 200,000 Allied soldiers died in the Italian campaign, including members of the NZ Corps and 28th Maori Battalion - the latter suffering an appalling 84% casualty rate.
(7 June 2004)
  

Flightless Kiwi 
The Government's defence refocus causes international comment: turning New Zealand into a province; cutbacks have firm basis Jane's Defense Weekly correspondent.
              

Still steadfast 
Anti-apartheid activist New Zealander John Minto has turned down a nomination for an award proffered by South African President Thabo Mbeki. Minto organised protests against the Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand in 1981 when thousands responded to Minto's campaign by taking to the streets. In a letter to President Mbeki on his website, Minto declined nomination for the Companion of O R Tambo Award named after South African anti-apartheid leader Oliver Tambo. "When we protested and marched into police batons and barbed wire here in the struggle against apartheid, we were not fighting for a small black elite to become millionaires," Minto wrote in his letter to Mbeki, "We were fighting for a better South Africa for all its citizens." 
(28 January 2008)

Humanitarian world title 

Red Cross honours NZ nurse
Aucklander Marianne Whittington has been awarded the Red Cross's highest nursing honour, the Florence Nightingale Medal. Whittington has undertaken 11 international aid missions for the organisation in the last 17 years, including dangerous assignments to Afghanistan, Sudan and Angola. "She has taken three missions to Afghanistan during and after the Taliban's rule," said Red Cross operations manager Andrew McKie. "They were conducted under difficult circumstances, given the position of the International Committee of Red Cross and of female aid workers in particular. For her to volunteer during these times demonstrates her commitment to the Red Cross." Only 50 Florence Nightingale medals are awarded internationally every two years. Whittington is the 23rd New Zealand nurse to receive the honour since 1920. She was awarded the New Zealand Red Cross international service award in 2005.
(15 June 2007)

Falklands history discovered in NZ
An important piece of Falklands War history has been discovered by New Zealander Neil Shaw on the eve of the conflict's 25th anniversary. A former member of the British Antarctic Survey, Shaw discovered the message from Falklands governor Rex Hunt warning Argentina to cease their invasion while sorting through his old belongings. Shaw had himself transcribed the radioed message from Hunt and handed it to the Argentinean captain. "We had finished an Antarctic expedition and saw it as a bit of a holiday trip around the whaling stations on South Georgia. The base commander had told us to be aware of 'unwanted visitors,'" said Shaw in the Guardian. "We arrived at Leith harbour and saw some smoke rising above the hill. We went over the hill and saw a ship in the docks, and realised there was more to this: it was a political situation." The note will be displayed next month at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, in an exhibition dedicated to the conflict.
(18 March 2007)

Remembrance made permanent
The long-awaited NZ war memorial in London's Hyde Park was officially opened on Remembrance Day, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Tony Blair and Helen Clark. Described as "striking" by the Queen, the 16 bronze stands by Paul Dibble, commemorate NZ's enduring links with Britain and the lives both nations have lost fighting in wars together. "To have the Queen and eight other members of the royal family present, to have the British prime minister, many many dignitaries, it was truly a huge occasion for New Zealand in London," said Clark. More than 2000 guests attended the ceremony, which featured speeches by Clark, Blair and the Queen, a 120-strong royal honour guard, and performances by Hayley Westenra and Dave Dobbyn. 
(12 November 2006)

NZ WW1 vets pardoned 
The British government has officially pardoned more than 300 Commonwealth soldiers executed for discipline breaches during WW1, including three NZers shot for cowardice or desertion. The legislation is the result of a 16-year campaign by Briton John Hipkin, who was moved to act after learning that four of those shot at dawn were just 17 years old. "This is not about rewriting history," says Defence Secretary Des Browne. "I do not want to second guess decisions made by the commanders at the time. I believe it is better to acknowledge that injustices were clearly done in some cases - even if we cannot say which - and to acknowledge that all these men were victims of war. I hope that pardoning these men will finally remove the stigma with which their families have lived for years." The three NZ soldiers were pardoned in a bill passed in NZ in 2000. 
(9 November 2006)

Drawn to the edge
Michele Law is currently working the most challenging assignment of her already distinguished legal career. As a lawyer for the UN Office of Constitutional Support, Law is helping to draft Iraq's first constitution. The Canterbury University graduate has worked on democracy building and constitutional issues in numerous war-torn countries, including post-coup Fiji. “I wanted to contribute to the future of Iraq - to be at this place at this time in history to see if I could help,” she says. And for the future? “NZ is thinking of making a constitution and I'm interested in that. But there's something about being in dangerous places doing cutting edge work which keeps drawing me back.”
(31 August 2005)
    

Challenge to a war 
Brisbane born, Dunedin raised and educated Malcolm Kendall-Smith, the man who refused to return to fight in a war that was "manifestly unlawful", stood by his decision at a court martial hearing on 27 October at Bulford Camp's Military Court Centre, Wiltshire and maintained his plea of not-guilty. The 37 year-old decorated RAF officer who holds dual NZ/British citizenship and dual degrees in Medicine and Kantian moral philosophy faces four charges of disobeying a lawful order and could face a jail term if convicted. A second private preliminary hearing is scheduled for the first week of December. Following that, a more lengthy public hearing will take place some time in March 2006, preceding the trial proper. Kendall-Smith's lawyer Mr Hugheston-Roberts said: "It is going to be a case that will raise very substantial and profound questions of international law and jurisprudence. It is the most important case that has come before the courts in a lifetime and it is the first time that we will be seeking a judicial ruling, to a criminal standard, of this country's actions."
(28 October 2005)

Fallen treasures may stand again
Since September 2004, NZ troops have been stationed in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley to oversee the reconstruction of the area following the US-led war against the Taleban. As well as helping rebuild Bamiyan University, the NZ Army is playing a key role in the attempt to piece back together two enormous and ancient Buddha statues, destroyed as ‘false gods’ by the Taleban in 2001. The reconstruction team’s deputy leader, Lieutenant Colonel Greg Davies, feels a sense of loss whenever he sees the destroyed statues. “You wonder why someone would have wanted to damage them, given they were 1800 years old,” he says in the NZ Herald. “It's never going to be the same, I guess.”
(5 December 2004)
    

Lest we forget
Rusell Crowe provided the narration for a “ground-breaking” documentary series on Anzac soldiers, recently aired on NZ television and screening in Australia later this year. The series celebrates the bond between NZ and Australian soldiers, from WW1 to Vietnam. “Russell was the perfect choice,” said writer/director Paul Rudd. “His late grandfather (Stan Wemyss) was a war cinematographer for the NZ film unit. He has a broad and detailed knowledge of the Anzac experience as well as a personal link to the war. He identifies very clearly with both Australia, where he lives, and NZ, where he was born.” Crowd numbers at this year’s Anzac Day dawn service in Gallipoli were believed to be the greatest ever, despite international warnings against travel to Turkey.
(25 April 2004)
  

Memory in bronze 
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, the New Zealander who led the Battle of Britain against Germany in 1940, deserves recognition from the city of London according to British politicians and senior RAF officers. Backers for a memorial of Sir Keith have launched a bid to place a statue of the pilot on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth in London. The campaign is being led by London-based New Zealand philanthropist Terry Smith, who is willing to spend £100,000 on a bronze sculpture of Sir Keith. Smith said the statue would be a more fitting use of the plinth than its current role as a showcase for contemporary art. "It is unbelievable that there is no recognition of a man who made such a massive contribution to Britain's defence," he said. "The Germans called him the defender of London." An online petition can be signed at www.sirkeithpark.com. 
(8 March 2008)

Tales from a conflict zone
NZ nurse Lisa French Blaker has written a book about working for the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in Sudan. In Heart of Darfur (Hodder & Stoughton), French Blaker, 36, recounts the nine months she spent in war-ravaged Darfur, in western Sudan. "[In Darfur] you've got tens of thousands of people who've been displaced from their homes," she said in an interview with The Age. "They don't feel safe enough to go to the camps, so they just grab their kids and move ... We got lots of people in our hospital who'd been shot as they were running away from an attack - back of the humerus, back, buttocks, back of the femur." French Blaker is now heading to Iraq, where she will continue to work for Medecins Sans Frontieres.
(16 November 2007)

Passchendaele remembered 

Balibo deaths back in spotlight 
The 1975 deaths of two Australian, two British and a New Zealand journalist in Balibo, East Timor, are back in the political spotlight after a Sydney inquest found conclusive evidence of deliberate murder and lies by Indonesia, and complicit silence from the Australian government. A new book by NZ activist Maire Leadbeater reveals similar complicity in Wellington, following a policy on both sides of the Tasman to support Indonesia's invasion of the newly independent East Timor. Last month, two Australian police officers barged into visiting Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's Sydney hotel room, demanding he testify at the inquest. The incident has caused a diplomatic storm between Indonesia and Australia, with Australia anxious to appease its neighbour. The son of slain NZ cameraman Gary Cunningham, John Milkins, has asked the Australian government to officially apologise to the families of the journalists, rather than try to "smooth the waters" with Indonesia: "For the Australian Government to apologise [to Indonesia] while the Balibo five families are still waiting for an apology, that is unacceptable to us." 
(8 June 2007)

Peace of mind 
NZ has been named the world's second most peaceful country in the inaugural Global Peace Index, a study commissioned by Australian IT entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Killelea and sponsored by peace advocates such as the Dalai Lama. Norway topped the index and Western Europe was judged the most peaceful region overall. The US rated 93 on the list, well below China, France, Australia and the UK. The worst-ranked countries are Iraq, Sudan and Israel. Carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Global Peace Index is the first systematic study of peacefulness to measure indicators of both internal and external harmony. Its findings show that small, affluent countries with well-educated and governed citizens - which get on with their neighbours - have the best chance of living in peace. 
(31 May 2007)

Te Kuiti hero immortalised in bronze
A statue commemorating a NZ WW2 hero has been unveiled in the Scottish village of Cowie, where he died. Flight Lieutenant Carlisle Everiss of Te Kuiti lost control of his Spitfire over Cowie in 1941, but chose to steer the plane towards a nearby wood rather than crash it into the small mining community. The 26-year-old died after being read his last rites by three villagers. Nearly 70 years later, residents in Cowie have raised £12,000 to erect a bronze bust of the pilot, to accompany the plaque dedicated to him in the 1970s. "Once in a generation a guy like this comes along," said local councillor Gerard O'Brien at the statue's unveiling. "We should not forget what he did and the statue is a way of saying thank you."
(19 May 2007)

Inside perspective on disarmament 
New Zealander Bob Rigg has written an essay for Open Democracy protesting the US manipulation of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and the ousting of its Brazilian director-general, José Bustani, in 2002. Rigg worked for the disarmament organisation for nine years before resigning in support of Bustani. According to Rigg's essay, The Evisceration of a Disarmament Body, the OPCW's ostensibly multilateral status has become increasingly compromised by US involvement, post September 11. "Compliance and servility are the watchwords of the new OPCW, which was also a testing-ground for the subjugation by the US of other international and United Nations organisations," he writes. "Something is rotten in the state of multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation." Bob Rigg chairs the NZ National Consultative Committee on Disarmament (NCCD). 
(27 April 2007)

Images from the outskirts of war
James Boswell: Unofficial War Artist: Drawings of Army Life in Iraq and UK 1939-1943 by William Feaver offers a fascinating insight into the "unpretentious, unheroic, unsmarmy" work of the NZ-born artist and political activist. Born in 1906, Boswell migrated to London in 1925 to attend the Royal College of Art (which suspended him twice for "stroppiness.") In 1933 he joined the Communist Party and became a founder member of the Artists' International Association (AIA), a politically-minded group for young artists of which he later became Chairman. Boswell used his artistic talents for left-wing political ends - illustrating the Left Review, making banners for Artists Against Fascism and Aid for Spain - and it was these political colours which eventually disqualified him from being an official war artist in WW2. Feaver's book focuses on Boswell's work during his service in the Royal Army Medical Corps. "Boswell's war proved uneventful compared to that of firemen and slave labourers but that, in retrospect, makes his drawings no less telling. He drew London in blackout and blitz, New Zealanders astray in Piccadilly, prams parked outside tube stations while families sheltered underground ... Boswell's Iraq is a land of dead ends. A railhead connects with a fuel dump; wire surrounds every patch worth thieving from. Smoke rises aimlessly from black stoves lined up behind the cook huts where dogs sniff through shoals of emptied tins." 
(16 December 2006)

Top gun 
New Zealand has its first Maori defence force head with the appointment of Major-General Jerry Mateparae. Mateparae will be promoted to lieutenant general when he replaces Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson in May. "I'm immensely proud as a New Zealander to serve and I'm immensely proud as a member of Ngati Tuwharetoa to be selected," he says. 
(7 March 2006)

Guantanamo report
NZ human rights lawyer, Paul Hunt, is one of the authors of a new UN report on the US-run detention camp at   Guantanamo Bay, which calls for a dramatic improvement in its conditions if not its closure. The UN team was denied access to prisoners by the US. “It would have been a dereliction of duty if we'd closed our eyes to Guantanamo Bay,” says Hunt. “[The team] is really disappointed that the  US declined to invite us to Guantanamo Bay to interview the detainees.” The report, described by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as “just flat wrong,” has received support from the European Parliament and numerous human rights organisations.
(20 February 2006)

Rainbow resonates 20 years on
July 10 marked the 20th anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior bombing in Auckland Harbour. The Greenpeace flagship was targeted by French agents under the orders of then President Francois Mitterand, in retaliation for Greenpeace protests against French nuclear testing in the Pacific. Photographer Fernando Pereira was killed in the blast. NZ held a memorial service at the site of the bombing, followed by a commemorative concert. Services were also held in Paris and Sydney, and Canada declared July 10 to be Rainbow Warrior Day in Toronto and Vancouver. “Today we are facing a bigger nuclear threat as an ever increasing number of states continue their development of nuclear weapons,” said 1985 crew member Steve Sawyer at the NZ memorial. “No bomb will stop conflict - whether it be in the arsenals of the nuclear weapons states, on the Rainbow Warrior, on buses and tube stations in London, nor on the streets of Baghdad.”
(11 July 2005)
    

Gallipoli: all guts, no glory
Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force, Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, in his address at Anzac Cove marking the 90th anniversary of the landing there of New Zealand and Australian soldiers, said that there was no glory in what happened at Gallipoli. It was a folly of high command and joint warfare at its worst from the British side, he said, laying the blame at their leadership for the deaths of 44,000 Allied soldiers. Gallipoli represented, for Australia and New Zealand, the high-water mark of our 'imperial subservience'.  The Australian's  defence columnist Greg Sheridan called the speech “bizarre and puerile. "It's a sad commentary on New Zealand that this form of politically correct adolescent pouting finds expression at the top of its military." Sheridan said New Zealand had turned its back on having a modern defence force, while Australia had not. "While Anzac Day unites us, it also shows how different we are. Those in Australia who would like us to take the New Zealand option, of isolation, irrelevance and military irresponsibility, have the greatest trouble with Anzac Day. They can't get a grip on it. It's too popular. They don't know where to attack."
(April 2005)

Home to rest
In November, NZ became one of the last participants of WW1 to create a tomb of the unknown soldier. The soldier’s remains arrived from France to an emotional Maori and military welcome, and were interred at the National Warrior Memorial in Wellington on Remembrance Day. “The establishment of the tomb represents a growing understanding of the part which history has played in shaping the country NZ is today,” said PM Helen Clark.
(10 November 2004)
    

ANZACs legend lives on
BBC series on the National Health Service profiles Harefield Hospital and its enduring ties with NZ and Australia. Now home to one of Britain’s leading heart surgery units, Harefield was initially established as a medical centre for ANZAC soldiers during WW1. Hospital spokesperson, Cheryl Thompson: “It is our history. Perhaps without the ANZACs there would not be a hospital on this site today. It is important to remember those that fought to save our country, and when you look at the old photographs, which have been reproduced and hung in the ANZAC centre, there is a real sense of connection to our past, you can step back in time.”
(30 August 2003)
   

Waking up the establishment
Nancy Wake, NZ-born heroine of the WW2 resistance movement, interviewed in SMH, recovering after a heart attack in hospital. At 90 Wake has become an honoured permanent resident and "something of a tourist attraction" at the exclusive London hotel, The Stafford. Wake has lost none of her famed verve: "Please tell them back at The Stafford that I'm ready to come home tomorrow [...] I'll be down for my two googy eggs for breakfast." From there she holds court at the bar, regaling guests, reading the papers and sipping a G and T. For the NZEdge profile on Wake click here. 
(27 February 2003)
   

Long time coming
NZ military veterans have applauded a court ruling that a former French serviceman died of leukaemia as a direct result of exposure to radiation at Moruroa. France has consistently denied that any harm was caused by its nuclear testing at the Pacific atoll. The case is seen by many as a landmark decision, and one which could aid further claims against foreign governments.
(17 February 2003)
    

A Wired Army
The NZ Army is the first in the world to recruit online, and expects to cut the process from 4 to 6 weeks to just 14 days. "If we can offer a way that is faster, that is simpler, that is better and make sure we capture the information straight up, then it's going to be better for us," says Major Mike Shatford, director of recruiting.
(29 September 2001)
             

 

It's raining (flying) men
Britain's RAF, looking to fill vacancies, sees the disbanding of the combat wing of the RNZAF may be a wind-fall.
(19 May 2001)

The tough got going
"Tough New Zealanders, adept at navigating the desert by the stars-and-sun compass," formed a key part of David Lloyd Owen's Long Range Desert Group, "regarded by some as one of the most cost-effective special forces in the history of warfare".
(16 April 2001)
            

Kiwi soldier in adventurous jungle escape from murderous rebels
For three days and three nights, New Zealander, Major David Lingard and three British officers struggled through 50 miles of dense African jungle on the run from murderous rebels in a remote part of Sierra Leone.
(13 May 2000)

Famed wartime pilot Irving "Black" Smith dies
Invercargill born Group Captain Irving Smith, famed for his courage and low-level precision bombing raids during WWII, died on Feb 16. 
(22 March 2000)
              

Tunnel museum opens 
During the Great War beneath the unassuming French town of Arras and the German enemy, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company built two interconnected tunnels, almost 20km long and able to hide 25,000 troops. The tunnellers named this dark, damp kingdom - rediscovered in 1990 - after home towns. From one huge quarry called Auckland, soldiers could march through to Wellington, Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch and Dunedin. Canteens, chapels, power stations, a light railway and even a fully functioning hospital were all established below ground. A £3 million visitor centre and a lift have just been opened to the public. Head of Arras's archaeology department Alain Jacques said: "I could not understand why there was all this English writing on the pillars and signs to places such as Wellington," he said, still thrilled at the recollection of his discovery. "And then I worked out that these must be the tunnels of the Great War." 
(15 March 2008)

Protest heard around the world 
NZ-born pro surfer Dave "Rasta" Rastovich led an international protest over Japan's commercial slaughter of dolphins in November, gaining significant media coverage for his cause. Rastovich, a free surfer for Billabong, is a co-founder of the charity group Surfers for Cetaceans. He led a traditional surfing paddle-out ceremony at Japan's notorious "killing cove" in Taiji, to honour the memory of the thousands of dolphins killed there each year. "In surfing culture, it is customary to hold this type of ceremony to show respect to a surfer who has lost his or her life," he says. "These dolphins, truly the original surfers, are our ocean brothers and sisters and deserve to be remembered and honoured in the same way." Rastovich was joined by actresses Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) and Isabel Lucas (Home and Away), pro surfers Karlie Mackie, James Pribram, Karina Petroni and Jaymes Triglone, and a group of Japanese surfers from Save Japan Dolphins. The protest earned massive media exposure after arrest warrants were issued in Japan for Panettiere and Lucas, as well as for others in the group. 
(29 October 2007)

Nobel nomination for NZ institution 
A NZ youth development course is in the running for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The Spirit of New Zealand, a ship that takes teenagers on 10-day development workshops, is one of 21 ships that sail under the Sailing Training International banner. Run by the Spirit of Adventure Trust, the Spirit of New Zealand has hosted more than 75,000 young people over the past 35 years. "The purpose of it really is to teach kids about themselves," says Trust spokesperson John Lister. "We don't teach them how to sail the ship, we use the ship and the medium of the sea to find out about them." Sailing Training International is nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with 180 other individuals and organisations. 
(12 September 2007)

Speaking out for Sudan 
Oxfam activist Ingrid MacDonald is helping to raise awareness of her organisation's work in war-torn Darfur, Sudan. The Waiuku-born aid worker is currently based in Chad, where camps have been set up to house the millions of Sudanese refugees flooding across the border. "After four years of conflict, there are nearly two and a half million displaced people in Darfur, and four million now have to rely on support from organisations like Oxfam," she says. "Some of the camps where people displaced by the conflict are now sheltering are the size of Dunedin or Tauranga." As well as providing the refugees with clean water, food and medical supplies, Oxfam is helping to set up small businesses within the camps by training refugees in skills such as plumbing, carpentry and brick-making. The organisation is currently seeking to raise US$10 million internationally to continue its work in Chad. 
(14 May 2007)

High price for Anzac artwork 
An iconic Anzac painting has sold for more than twice its estimated price at an auction of wartime artworks in Sydney. Simpson and his Donkey by NZ artist Horace Moore-Jones was purchased for $120,000 by an anonymous buyer. The painting depicts an unknown wounded soldier on a donkey being led by an Anzac medic, with the Gallipoli peninsula in the background. Controversy surrounding the medic's identity probably contributed to the unexpected sale price. While some believe the artwork represents John Simpson Kirkpatrick, a British-born medic with the Australian Field Ambulance, others claim it is taken from a photograph of NZ Field Ambulance medic Dick Henderson, who replaced Kirkpatrick. Moore-Jones produced five originals of the painting in 1917 while living in Dunedin. 
(30 April 2007)

Verdict reached 
Dual British/NZ citizen Flight Lieutenant Dr Malcolm Kendall-Smith has been found guilty on five counts of disobeying orders and has been sentenced to 8 months in prison and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs for refusing to serve in Iraq. The doctor who has now been dismissed from the RAF, has already served two tours of duty in Iraq but refused to return last June on the basis that the invasion was illegal and that he therefore did not have to obey orders to serve there. In court, Kendall-Smith began his statement by defining aggression as "the use of armed forces by a state against a sovereign state's integrity". He said that as a commissioned officer he was required "to consider each and every order" and to consider their legality under domestic and international law. "I believe that the current occupation of Iraq is an illegal act and for me to comply with an act which is illegal would put me in conflict with both domestic and international law". In a statement outside the court at Aldershot in Hampshire, Kendall Smith's defence lawyer said his client felt his actions were "totally justified. He would do the same thing again [and] will appeal against the conviction and the sentence." 
(14 March 2006)