NATIONAL COMMEMORATION TO MARK THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NORMANDY LANDINGS THURSDAY 6 JUNE 2019
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NAT IONA L COM M E M ORATI O N TO
MARK T H E 75T H A N N IV E RS ARY O F
TH E NOR M A NDY L A N DI N G S
THURSDAY 6 JUNE 2019
HALL OF MEMORIES
PUKEAHU NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL PARK
WELLINGTOND-Day historical background
Officially it was Operation Overlord, but most people called it D-Day
(a military planning term in which D stands for the intended day of
operations). The attack launched across the English Channel on the
night of 5/6 June 1944 was an amphibious assault on an unprecedented
scale. Although initial planning went back further, the Allies had decided
to open a second front, long urged by the Soviet Union, the year before.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme
Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), with General Bernard
Montgomery in charge of the 21st Army Group, the land forces involved in
the invasion.
The Allies had near-total supremacy at sea and in the air. The German army
was still a formidable force but by mid-1944 it was badly stretched, bogged
down in Italy and reeling from Soviet attacks on the Eastern Front. Hitler
had appointed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, an old foe of Anzac soldiers
in North Africa, to strengthen the Atlantic Wall with additional guns, mines
and anti-tank obstructions.
While Rommel knew that an assault was inevitable, he did not know its
precise location or timing. As Pas de Calais was just 34 kilometres from
Dover, it seemed the most obvious target, so the Germans gave priority to
strengthening its coastal and anti-aircraft defences. In the event the Allies
chose a longer sea route to get to the more lightly defended Normandy
coast. Although much further away from England (160 kilometres), this
was more conveniently located for resupply through the big harbours of
Portsmouth and Southampton.
Allied preparations were meticulous. While shipyards and factories churned
out ships, aircraft, vehicles and munitions on both sides of the Atlantic,
Special Forces surveyed the beaches and the coasts. Personnel from all
three services practised combined operations, the difficult co-ordination
of sea, air and land forces. Allied commanders used dummy ships and land
forces to keep the Germans guessing. All the time, Allied aircraft, by now
only weakly opposed by the German air force, conducted reconnaissance
Cover image:
flights and pounded the French railway network to make it difficult for the
Back from an operation with 485 (NZ) squadron. Normandy campaign.
Maurice Mayston-left (Maurice Mayston Collection)
Germans to move men and machines up to the landing zones.
2 3Planners had to take every variable into account – enemy defences, tides aluminium foil – to trick German radar operators into thinking that the main
and the weather. Here New Zealander Lieutenant-Commander Lawrence fleet was attacking north of Normandy.
Hogben played an important role in the Admiralty meteorological team. Its
advice persuaded Eisenhower to delay D-Day, originally planned for 5 June, British troops landed on the Sword and Gold beaches, the Canadians on
by a day so weather and sea conditions would be more suitable. Juno and the Americans on Utah and Omaha. Omaha proved a bloody
killing ground. The Allies did not achieve all their objectives that day, but
The invasion force was dominated by American, British and Canadian held onto beachheads that they could defend and enlarge.
troops. Although the bulk of New Zealand’s frontline army was fighting in
Italy, a few soldiers were present as individuals. Brigadier James Hargest, D-Day’s statistics were impressive. More than 6000 ships set sail, covered by
who was present on 6 June as an official New Zealand observer, would be the aircraft of around 200 squadrons. Allied aircraft flew more than 14,000
killed by a shell in August 1944. sorties on 6 June, vastly overshadowing the Luftwaffe’s 100. By day’s end,
153,000 Allies troops had crossed the Channel, 130,000 by sea and 23,000 by
The majority of the New Zealand participants came from the Royal Navy air. The Germans would fight back, but within a month there would be over
and its Fleet Air Arm (in which a total of about 4700 New Zealanders were a million Allied troops on liberated French soil.
serving in 1944) and the Royal Air Force (nearly 6000).
For the remainder of 1944 New Zealanders continued to make an important
There were no New Zealand warships off the Normandy beaches, but contribution at sea and in the air. Merchant seafarers served on the hospital
observers may have spotted the familiar outlines of the Union Steam Ship ships and transports that shuttled back and forth across the Channel,
Company’s passenger liners Monowai and Aorangi, now painted grey and protected by a powerful shield of naval vessels. New Zealand airmen
serving as an assault landing ship and a depot ship respectively. Elsewhere, helped maintain air superiority over the battlefield and hammered enemy
New Zealanders could be found crewing just about every type of Royal strongpoints and supply lines, with many soon operating from forward
Navy ship. Poet and printer Denis Glover was one of them. Like many that airfields in France. Among them was Desmond Scott, aged just 25, who led
day, he commanded an assault craft, in his case the infantry landing craft a mobile wing of Typhoon fighter-bomber squadrons in devastating, but
HMS LCI(S) 515. He later wrote about ‘conning a shipload of one hundred dangerous, low-level attacks on German ground forces.
and four hefty Commandoes, fifteen seamen and two officers of my own,
running on a timetable towards terror.’ The terror did not stop him from Paris was liberated in late August and by the end 1944 the Germans had
winning the DSC for ‘exemplary courage and the utmost determination.’ been ejected from almost all of France and Belgium. Much hard fighting still
The following month Aucklander Ted Tangye would have to swim for lay ahead, but the end of the war in Europe was in sight.
it when his destroyer, HMS Isis, hit a mine and sank off the Normandy
beaches. Ten New Zealand ratings lost their lives that night.
New Zealand had seven squadrons with a dominion identity in the RAF,
two in Bomber Command, three in Fighter Command and two in Coastal
Command. Four of these squadrons formed part of the Second Tactical Air
Force (2 TAF) commanded by Air Vice-Marshal Arthur Coningham, who had
served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli. A Spitfire from
485 (NZ) Squadron claimed the first German aircraft of the day.
Most New Zealand aircrew flew with British squadrons, towing gliders,
bombing German positions and prowling for enemy aircraft. Les Munro
of Dambusters fame flew with 617 Squadron to drop ‘Window’ – strips of
4 5Trucks on landing craft being prepared for the trip ashore, Normandy 1944.
OC1049 National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy
6 7Pilots with No 485 (NZ) Squadron on the morning of D-Day. Royal Marine Commanders disembark from Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) on the Normandy
HIST826 Air Force Museum coast.
APE0020 National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy
Sword Beach, 7 June 1944, the day after D-Day. Veterans Messers Pen Moore, Hugh Findlater, Jim Kelly, Colin Kemp and Alan Davis attend
AUC0066 National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy the New Zealand Commemoration at the Bayeux War Cemetery, France 2014.
photo courtesy of nzdf
8 9Normandy. AUC0065 National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy 10 11
ORDER OF SERVICE KARANGA
The karanga is called by June Jackson MNZM, Taranaki Whānui, supported
ARRIVAL by Peter Jackson, Taranaki Whānui, as the Official Party proceed into the
Official guests are welcomed by Rear Admiral David Ledson ONZM (Rtd), foyer of the Hall of Memories
Chair of the National War Memorial Advisory Council and Colin Holden,
Deputy Chief Executive, Ministry for Culture and Heritage Please stand
The Honourable Ron Mark PROCESSIONAL
Minister of Defence and Minister for Veterans Rangimarie, the Peace Bell tolls six times as the Official Party processes to
and the front of the Hall of Memories
Christine Tracey
THE CATAFALQUE GUARD MOUNTS IN THE HALL
His Excellency Mr Leasi Papali’i Tommy Scanlon OF MEMORIES
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps
Nicola Willis MP
THE QUEEN’S COLOUR OF THE ROYAL NEW
representing the Opposition ZEALAND AIR FORCE IS MARCHED IN
Air Marshal Kevin Short NATIONAL ANTHEM
Chief of Defence Force
and Please remain standing for the National Anthem
Sherryll Short
Led by Anon Vocal Ensemble
Rear Admiral Jack Steer (Rtd)
Chief Executive Aotearoa
Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association E Ihowā Atua,
O ngā iwi mātou rā
The Official Party move up the steps to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior Āta whakarangona;
Me aroha noa
RESPECTS PAID AT THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN Kia hua ko te pai;
WARRIOR Kia tau tō atawhai;
Whakamaharatanga, the Remembrance Bell tolls four times as the Official Manaakitia mai
Party pay their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior Aotearoa
12 13God Defend New Zealand PRAYER OF REMEMBRANCE
God of Nations at Thy feet, Chaplain Class 2 Di Woods
In the bonds of love we meet, New Zealand Defence Force
Hear our voices, we entreat,
God defend our free land LAYING OF WREATHS
Guard Pacific’s triple star Wreaths are laid by:
From the shafts of strife and war,
Make her praises heard afar, The Honourable Ron Mark and Christine Tracey
God defend New Zealand on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand
Please be seated Nicola Willis MP
on behalf of the of the Opposition
WELCOME
Master of Ceremonies Ray Brookes and Philip Stewart
Brodie Stubbs on behalf of veterans
Manager Memorials and Taonga
Ministry for Culture and Heritage His Excellency Mr Zbigniew Gniatkowski
Ambassador
OPENING PRAYER on behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Poland
Chaplain Class 2 Di Woods
New Zealand Defence Force His Excellency Mr Mario Bot
High Commissioner
PROLOGUE on behalf of the Government and people of Canada
Rear Admiral David Ledson ONZM (Rtd) Chair,
National War Memorial Advisory Council His Excellency Mr Gerhard Thiedemann
Ambassador
on behalf of the Government and people of Germany
COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESS
The Honourable Ron Mark
His Excellency Mr Scott Brown
Minister of Defence and Minister for Veterans
Ambassador
on behalf of the Government and people of the United States of America
VOCAL ITEM
Anon Vocal Ensemble sings
Her Excellency Ms Mira Woldberg
Ambassador
READING on behalf of the Government and people of the Netherlands
Air Marshall Kevin Short
Chief of Defence Force
Excerpts from D-Day, Denis Glover, 1944
14 15Her Excellency Ms Sylvaine Carta Le-Vert Jack Spencer
Ambassador Scots College
on behalf of the Government and people of France
and
Mr Andrew Cumpston
Deputy High Commissioner Charlotte Conroy
on behalf of the Government and people of Australia Rovers Scouts
representing youth
Ms Helen Smith
Deputy High Commissioner During the wreath laying Anon Vocal Ensemble sings
on behalf of the Government and people of the United Kingdom from the rear of the Great Hall
Air Marshal Kevin Short and Sherryll Short PRAYER IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 75th
on behalf of the men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force and ANNIVERSARY OF THE NORMANDY LANDINGS
their families Chaplain Class 2 Di Woods
New Zealand Defence Force
Joseph Romanos
representing the Mayor of Wellington Please stand
on behalf of the City of Wellington
THE COMMEMORATION
Trevor Appleton
on behalf of the Royal New Zealand Naval Association
Last Post
Air Commodore Terry Gardiner MNZM (Rtd) Uniformed personnel salute
on behalf of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Association
The flag of New Zealand on the upper forecourt is lowered to half mast
Lewis Robinson
on behalf of the Merchant Navy Association
Pauline Patterson
on behalf of the Royal New Zealand Women’s Naval Association
Frank Clark and John Watson
on behalf of the British Airborne Forces (NZ) Inc
Rear Admiral Jack Steer (Rtd)
on behalf of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association
16 17The Ode RECESSIONAL
Warrant Officer Jack Rudolph The Official Party process to the Foyer
New Zealand Defence Force
In the Foyer, The Honourable Ron Mark and Christine Tracey are invited
E kore rātou e kaumātuatia to sign the Visitors’ Book. The Official Party then move to the Tomb of the
Pēnei i a tātou kua mahue nei Unknown Warrior
E kore hoki rātou e ngoikore
Ahakoa pēhea i ngā āhuatanga o te wā FLORAL TRIBUTES LAID ON THE TOMB OF THE
I te hekenga atu o te rā UNKNOWN WARRIOR
Tae noa ki te aranga mai i te ata The Honourable Ron Mark, Christine Tracey, Air Marshal Kevin Short and
Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou Sheryll Short place floral tributes on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior
Response: Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou Other members of the Official Party place floral tributes on the Tomb of the
Unknown Warrior
Rear Admiral Jack Steer (Rtd)
Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association DEPARTURE
Departing officials are farewelled from Anzac Square by Rear Admiral David
They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old Ledson ONZM (Rtd), Chair of the National War Memorial Advisory Council
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn and Colin Holden, Deputy Chief Executive, Ministry for Culture and Heritage
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them Guests and veterans are invited to place poppies on the Tomb of the
Unknown Warrior
Response: We will remember them
1 minute silence
ROUSE
The flag of New Zealand on the upper forecourt is raised to full mast head
THE BLESSING
Chaplain Class 2 Di Woods, New Zealand Defence Force, delivers the Peace
Prayer and Blessing
18 19Beau fighters from the ANZAC Strike Wing showing the black and white stripes painted on all allied aircraft for identification. PR10335 Air Force Museum 20 21
Armourers from No. 486 (NZ) Squadron preparing a 20mm canon for their Tempest Aircraft. PR6125 Air Force Museum 22 23
This National Commemorative Service was arranged by the Visits and Ceremonial Office, Department of Internal Affairs, in partnership with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, the New Zealand Defence Force, and the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association
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