Tribute to Anzacs as Queen Elizabeth visits Auckland en route to Gallipoli

Tribute to Anzacs as Queen Elizabeth visits Auckland en route to Gallipoli

27 February 2015, 2:58PM
MG Media Communications

Image caption:  Luca Morris At Cunard’s Anzac poppy wall at Queens Wharf Auckland.


Herb and Marguerite Christophers at Cunard's Anzac poppy wall at Queens Wharf Auckland.
Herb and Marguerite Christophers at Cunard’s Anzac poppy wall at Queens Wharf Auckland.


In the lead up to the Gallipoli centenary, New Zealanders today paid their respects to the nation’s fallen Anzacs at a special memorial service onboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth in Auckland.

Reflecting Cunard’s long-standing association with New Zealand and Australian wartime campaigns, including Gallipoli, the cruise line invited locals to pay tribute to their Anzac heroes by placing a poppy in a wall of remembrance on Queens Wharf.  

Onboard Queen Elizabeth, members of the Returned and Services’ Association, defence forces and political leaders held a special morning service featuring a tribute to the first Anzacs by Auckland War Memorial Museum Director, Roy Clare CBE.

Among the guests at the service was Wellington resident  Herb Christophers, whose family lost four of five brothers at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during the course of World War One – with the last of the sons, Mr Christophers’ grandfather, dying just a month before the end of the war.

Visitors to the two-metre poppy wall, formed in the shape of “100” to mark the upcoming centenary, were also invited to honour their war heroes by writing a personal message in a remembrance book. Messages from the book will be read out at special service held onboard Queen Elizabeth on the eve of Anzac Day when the ocean liner cruises the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Representing Cunard, Carnival New Zealand CEO Ann Sherry said the line was honoured to pay tribute to the Anzacs during Queen Elizabeth’s Auckland visit.

“Cunard’s proud 175-year maritime legacy is interwoven with our military history. Since the Crimean war in 1853, Cunard ships have assisted Allied forces in times of warfare, including during the First World War when 20 Cunard ships were lost,” Ms Sherry said.

“Two Cunard ships – Mauretania and Aquitania – moved troops to the Mediterranean at the time of the Gallipoli expedition, with Aquitania then converted to a hospital ship, carrying 25,000 injured Allied troops back to the UK until early 1916.

“Cunard’s relationship with New Zealand and Australian forces continued during the Second World War when thousands of our troops sailed to war on the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.

“It’s a strong connection, so we are extremely proud that the new Queen Elizabeth can play a part today in remembering the service and sacrifice of the original Anzacs. Their nation building contribution continues to resonate down the generations because the families of those who served have never forgotten.”

Both the book and the poppy wall will be transferred to Queen Elizabeth this evening to travel to Sydney where Australians will join in the tribute, taking the number of flowers in the poppy wall to 11,500 to represent the Anzacs who lost their lives in the ill-fated campaign. Mr Christophers and his wife Marguerite will travel as the custodians of the New Zealand poppies to Turkey, where Mr Christophers will honour the memory of his ancestors.

Both the poppy wall and remembrance book will form the centrepiece of a commemorative service on April 24, the eve of Anzac Day, when Queen Elizabeth reaches the waters off the Gallipoli Peninsula during her current world voyage.  The book will remain in Queen Elizabeth’s library in memory of the heroes of Gallipoli.

Monies raised through the poppy wall today will be donated to the RSA to support their work with military families.

Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Auckland comes six weeks into her 112-night world voyage which will see her travel to the waters of Europe via Asia and the Middle East before returning to the UK on May 3.

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