Australian High Commissioner's Message on ANZAC Day 2010

ANZAC Day this year marks the 95th anniversary of the landing on the beaches of Gallipoli by the soldiers from both Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.

The ANZAC legend has become part of the national ethos of Australia and New Zealand.

We see it in the spirit of unity, freedom, enterprise and equality that continues to define our nations. Similarly, we see it in the qualities of comradeship, self-sacrifice and good humour that define us as peoples.

ANZAC Day is not a time for glorification but for sombre reflection. The sight of so many graves at places like Bomana reminds us of the terrible cost of war. And of course, the tragedy of so many young lives lost did not end there – the pain of their loss lived on in the hearts of all those who were robbed of a son, a husband, a father, a brother, a friend. While the resort to armed conflict is sadly sometimes unavoidable, ANZAC Day is a time for all of us to remind

ourselves of how precious peace is.

For Australia, one of the toughest tests was here in Papua New Guinea during the dark days of World War Two, in places that have now become part of the history we share with Papua New Guinea - Kokoda, Milne Bay, Buna, Gona and Bougainville, to name a few.

ANZAC Day provides us with a reminder of the close and enduring links between Australia and Papua New Guinea. We will never forget the bravery of those Papua New Guineans who, at great risk to themselves, supported us during our hour of need in the bitter campaigns of World War Two. Many Australian servicemen owed their lives to the selfless courage of these people.

Above all else ANZAC Day is an occasion for us to reflect on how the peace and freedom we all enjoy were won. It is difficult not to feel weighed down by the magnitude of the sacrifice that those who lay here made. But despair must not be our tribute to them. Rather, as we consider the enormity of their sacrifice, let us remember that their true and lasting legacy is the freedom that we continue to enjoy to this day.

Lest we forget.

 

Ian Kemish AM

Australian High Commissioner

 

Remembering those who sacrificed their lives

By His Excellency DAVID DUNN

British High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea

 

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them" part of the ode repeated all over the world on ANZAC Day and other memorial services throughout the year. 

As we gather for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service this year and young and old together witness the first rays of sunlight illuminating the row upon row of the immaculately-maintained Commonwealth War graves, let us reflect upon the huge debt of thanks we owe those lying at peace in the earth of Papua New Guinea.

These young men and women from Australia, New Zealand, the USA, India, Papua New Guinea, the UK and other Commonwealth nations fought and died together in the defence of common values, democracy and friendship.

But they not only died fighting for each other but also fighting for us.

For without their ultimate sacrifice and bravery we would not enjoy the freedoms and lifestyle that we have today.

As I visit the war graves in PNG I cannot help but be struck by the young age of so many of the of men at rest and I am personally filled with an overwhelming  sense of humble gratitude, sadness and feeling of what might have been?

 How many future fathers, husbands, sportsmen, scientists, inventors and even perhaps Prime Ministers lie shoulder-to-shoulder in PNG?

  So many young lives, hopes and dreams cut short before they had really begun.    

So at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.

We will remember their courage and valour; we will remember their sacrifice and the families and loved ones they left behind; and we will remember the folly and tragedy of war and all those who have lost their lives and been injured in past and current conflicts. 

But above all else, we must remember and never forget that they did it for us.

The remains of 466 British Servicemen lie buried at the Bomana Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, joining those of their peers from throughout the Commonwealth who died fighting to ensure peace, freedom and justice for all.  

After the ANZAC Day Service the British High Commission will be informally laying individual flowers on the 466 unnamed UK graves at Bomana.

 Anyone attending the Dawn Eervice on Sunday is most welcome to join us.   

In Flanders Fields

By John McCrae (1915)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 

'For our tomorrow, they gave their today'

ANZAC Day Message by His Excellency Niels Holm

New Zealand High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea

 

 E nga mate, nga aitua, o koutou, araa o matou

Ka tangihia e tatou i tenei wa

Haere haere haere

 

To the dead and to those being mourned, both yours and ours

We lament them and farewell them

To us the living, greetings to us all

 

As we gather on Sunday April 25, in the beautiful setting at Bomana War Cemetery with the magnificent memorial looking down on us, we know that in even the smallest towns around New Zealand and Australia, and in towns around the world wherever Kiwis and Australians are, people are gathering at their own war memorials to remember their dead.  

 We commemorate no military triumph – but the more humbling triumph of human valour. 

 The courage and endurance of those who did their duty at Gallipoli remains a vivid memory and a source of pride to every New Zealander and Australian.

 Like many operations of the First World War, the Gallipoli operation, however cogent in conception, was inadequately planned and inefficiently directed.

  It became the graveyard for the bodies of thousands of the best men of their generation.

 Our troops at Gallipoli were not professional soldiers; they were not the descendants of a warrior class or men driven by a military tradition. 

 They were teenagers; they were shopkeepers and farmers, they were mostly volunteers, imbued with a concept of duty and a wish for adventure. 

 Their diaries and the written records of their service show an extraordinary acceptance of what our national and imperial masters demanded of them. 

 As any lingering sense of adventure was blasted away on a succession of battlefields, the ghastly conditions in which they lived and fought required qualities of self-sacrifice, tenacity, resilience, courage, and much bravery. 

These qualities forged the ANZAC spirit, which remains a real and powerful force.

Australians and New Zealanders share the knowledge that in times of crisis, we have acted together to defend freedom, our shared values and our common interests.

And we will continue to do so.

On ANZAC Day, as well as commemorating the New Zealanders and Australians who lost their lives in war, we also think about our fellow countrymen and women who right now are serving us proudly around the globe, and also right here in our region.

 It is telling that more often than not these days, our servicemen and women are part of peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance. 

 We work together in response to humanitarian emergencies in the Pacific, clearing the debris of tsunamis and earthquakes and providing emergency supplies in the aftermath of devastating cyclones. 

In Solomon Islands, at that government’s request, our troops serve alongside members of the PNG Defence Force. 

Together we help provide Solomon Islanders with peace of mind, and a secure space for the country to heal from its conflicts. 

We also take this opportunity to offer our deep respect and gratitude for the contributions of the people of Papua New Guinea to the successful outcome of the bitter conflict that was waged in this country more than six decades ago.

 Many Papua New Guineans willingly, and often at great cost to themselves and their communities, displayed those same ANZAC values in serving the Allied cause.

On ANZAC Day, we give thanks to all who have served their countries so that we might live in peace.

 And we will indeed remember that “for our tomorrow they gave their today”.

Fireworks over Eyafallajökull

Why 75% of Europe's air traffic is shut down.

Massive ash emission from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption late in the evening.
Lightning caused by electrical discharge within the ash column.
The ash column assumes the shape of a plinian eruption.
Overview of Eyjafjallajökull stratovolcano complex and eruption column at dusk.

Pacific History Conference to be held at the University of Goroka

The Pacific History Conference will be held at the University of Goroka , Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea, in September of this year (please click on picture to enlarge). 

The conference theme is: Pacific at the Crossroads - Reflecting the Past, Adjusting the Present and Directing the Future. 

The conference seeks to address a range of issues associated with the theme.

For more information, contact:

 Ms Kate Gunn
The University of Goroka
PR & Marketing Officer

Ph: (675)  5311 877

Email: gunnk@uog.ac.pg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare's visit to Rotorua, New Zealand

Above are photos from Day 2 of PM Somare's visit to New Zealand.  Details for the attached photos are as follows:

• Wreathlaying: PM Somare lays a wreath at the Muruika Urupa (the Maori Battalion cemetery) at Ohinemutu, Rotorua. Sir Michael is wearing a korowai (ceremonial cloak) provided by the Rotorua District Council for the civic welcome and the wreathlaying as a mark of respect for Sir Michael's status.
• No 067: Sir Michael is greeted with a traditional hongi by Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters.
• No 056: Rotorua Mayor Kevin winters presents Sir Michael with a taiaha (traditional Maori weapon) as a symbol of respect and peace
• No. 048: Sir Michael, delegation members and advisors with the taiaha presented to the Prime Minister by Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters
• No 019: Sir Michael shares a joke with Rotorua Deputy Mayor Trevor Maxwell at this morning's Rotorua mayoral reception
• No 027: Sir Michael responds to Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters' welcome speech this morning and thanks Rotorua for the warm reception he received.
• No 002: Sir Michael receives a traditional challenge from a Maori warrior as part of the Prime Minister's official welcome to Rotorua at the Rotorua District Council Civic Centre