26 April 2015

ANZAC Remembrance Day: WW100 - Gallipoli a century on


The ANZAC Dawn Service 2015 - A Century on from the Gallipoli Landings: Two Countries Remember



I attended the Wellington ANZAC Day Dawn Parade and Service at Pukeahu National War Memorial, marking a century since the ANZAC Landings at Gallipoli.


Tens of thousands of Kiwis have marked the centenary of the Gallipoli landings at Anzac Day dawn ceremonies around the country; whilst Australia did the same across the Tasman 3 hours later.

It was the first ever dawn service to be held at the newly-opened Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, which was packed beyond capacity, with 40,000 people turning up.


Press photograph (Stuff.co.nz) from the carillion tower

Nearby roads were closed to accommodate them and those determined to get a good view had been camping out on Buckle St since the early hours. My wife and I had booked a hotel room in the CBD to avoid traffic. Trains started running from Kapiti at 3 am. Jeanine and the children went ahead on Friday night. I was on call, and followed by train after 10pm when my call ended.

A 4 am start, getting Luc from Te Aro, and then off to Pukeahu. The streets were packed with people, emerging from their houses and making their way towards the memorial in a quiet, solemn migration.


Arriving at the memorial well before 5am, we could only get as close as the corner of Taranaki and buckle streets. Massive video screens were in place, as was a good PA system, so no-one missed anything. Particularly touching was the images of Wellington war casualties, from WW1 through to Afghanistan, that were shown on the screens while the crowd waited for the 5.30 start.



The start of the event was marked by a blast of the dawn gun. The parade and procession was led by Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae who said the day was to "honour and remember all those who have served their country in all wars and, in particular, those who have lost their lives in executing that duty". The Governors-General from Australia and New Zealand both attended to mark 100 years since the combined forces landed at Gallipoli.

Australia's Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove said the Gallipoli landings had forged a special bond between the nations.

"Australians will never forget the gallantry of the New Zealanders. Today we stand side by side, from this dawn to dusk in New Zealand, Australia, and Turkey."

Lieutenant Colonel Ron Turner (retired) read the Ode of Remembrance. The crowed responded, "we will remember them", before observing a minute's silence.

As dawn broke the national anthem of Australia, followed by that of New Zealand, could be heard across the capital.


The Vice-Regal parties then rushed to catch a flight to Canberra, to attend Dawn services there; while members of the audience came forward to place poppies on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Tea and ANZAC biscuits were made available in the Arras tunnel.


We opted to visit the Australian part of the memorial first, then the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. My intention was to then go up to the Dominion museum, still believing that the New Zealand room, where the Chanuk Bair ANZAC diorama is, was to open. I enquired from a guard, who said that the museum would open at 8am.


Red rock symbolising Australia, and Gum trees.






Just to double check I called up Roly's ANZAC diorama website, just to find out that the display was not opening for week, as Peter Jackson was not satisfied with some other  aspects of the experience yet.
I was glad to note Rhys Jones' invitation to have a personal tour before the official opening for those of us who had worked on the project.

I most certainly will take him up on this.

The NZ room is to open officially NEXT Saturday.








From the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior we went down into the Arras tunnel, where we were served Coffee and ANZAC biscuits.







We brushed shoulders with the Acting Prime Minister, Bill English (Minister of Finance) and the Mayor of Wellington with the French Ambassador.

This is one of the great things about New Zealand. How approachable, humble and down-to-earth people are.

Officials and politicians not afraid to have their coffee with the public, and from the same paper cups!



 

Wellington Regiment drums with battle honours inscribed on them 
(apologies for poor quality pics - poor lighting, and phone camera)


We grabbed breakfast at a nearby cafe, and then headed for Te Papa instead. 

Boy, was I impressed. The "Scale of Our War" exhibit takes you on an emotional journey that cannot leave you untouched. I was very impressed by the three dimensional visual map of the attack on Chanuk Bair, which brought the events to life for me.


(Photos again not great, taken with my phone, and no flash allowed.)





Photos cannot do the journey the exhibition takes you on justice. 
You have to experience it for yourself!

The display included the story of Lt Col William Malone, who was killed by "friendly" fire, probably from a NZ Howitzer and that of Percival Fenwick, a doctor at Gallipoli.

The latter was particularly poignant to me dued to our shared vocation. Interesting for me was that he had served in the Boer Wars, and thus been the enemy of my family's ancestors at some point.







I too had been called up to serve in the  Medical Corps in South Africa , but conscription ended the year that I finished my Internship, and I did not have to go. Most of my school classmates had already served in the armed forces, and several of my school friends paid the highest price.

I reflected on the futility of that particular war, and how useless the sacrifice of their young lives had been, and how they no longer receive the recognition of the country they died for. It probably is the subject of a different post, but I suspect that S. African war dead and veterans no longer get the recognition they deserve.

Not the case in New Zealand.

Lest we forget...







A diorama of the camp at Gallipoli. I am proud to say that the quality the painting on the figures in the ANZAC diorama is better than those in this diorama, presumably made by Weta workshop.






 The exhibition had many hands-on experiences, from firing a periscope rifle through to writing letters to the front, and trying on the headgear of the period. The lemon squeezer hat suited me best.









Original German Machine gun 


The ANZAC equivalent




The Chilling statistics:










...for you, who were our future


 


16 April 2015

ANZAC Diorama: Funnies and Bloopers, and THAT DARN CAT !

ANZAC Diorama: Bloopers and that Darn Cat!

So the ANZAC diorama excitement slowly winds down. The exhibition is getting ready to open, and the final credits are about to roll. So how better to end than with a few bloopers and funnies ? A photo tells a 1000 stories. Or does it?

The road to Chunuk Bair is paved with unusual models:


The ANZAC Zombie Apocalypse


Scenes from an ice rink ?



You brought the Boombox ! Yeah!


I've got the night fever, night fever... yeah!


Ha-ha ha-ha Stayin' aliiiiive!



Stayin' alive


Stayin' alive


Stayin' aliiive



Yeah!



Forget all this miniature painting. We have discovered MILLINERY!



And then, when we started unpacking the last models...
Sniff! Sniff! What's that smell and this stuff on the miniatures? (and our hands?)

Ooh! I'll kill that cat!

"Dinner for One", (or The 90th Birthday)  a comedy sketch by Brit Lauri Wylie.
German television station Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) recorded a performance in 1963, in the  original English with a short introduction in German. This comedy sketch went on to become the most frequently repeated TV programme ever. 


What do you mean the box was for the models? 

And then there was the models that went missing in action...





Reinhold, was transporting nine New Zealand figures he had just finished painting. Whilst putting his gear into the car, he placed the box of soldiers and a wooden stand on the roof and (gulp!) forgot about them as he drove off.

Two hours later at the Marklin Model Railway Club, where he was to show the soldiers that night, he realised the figures weren't in the boot. With horror, it dawned on him what had happened. Immediately he went back to find them, but it was already dark. All he could find was the wooden stand.

Next day he searched again, with no luck. He even went through the rubbish containers as someone might have thrown the box in the rubbish - nothing!

On Monday, he designed and printed 40 flyers, went along Ward Street and put flyers into letterboxes and onto power poles.

That evening, a young chap rang: "I found your soldiers. Good that you put that flyer in my letterbox." First thing Tuesday morning Reinhold picked up his soldiers undamaged, much to his relief. He gave the young chap who was living in a simple flat a cash reward. Tuesday evening he was able to deliver the nine Kiwis, plus another ten he had finished, to his team coordinator ~ from Roly's blog

and our youngest painter, Mortimer Campbell:


Does anyone have any other funny moments we could add? 


...and then there is the caption competition (clicky)



15 April 2015

The ANZAC Diorama makes it to the TVNZ One News evening news!

Kapiti Wargames Club members feature in TV News item on ANZAC Diorama




Current president of the KWC Sam Campbell in front of the news cameras

Video link:
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/sir-peter-jackson-developing-multi-million-dollar-wwi-exhibition-video-6288901

13 April 2015

A Second Weekend behind the scenes in the Weta Workshop: ANZACs at Gallipoli - Chanuk Bair

Weekend 2 of the Kapiti Wargames Club's involvement with Peter Jackson's WW100 Project 

Or "How I helped to win the war."


(That subtitle reminds me a bit of the title of a Spike Milligan book I once read...)

But literature aside, I was lucky enough to make my way down to the Weta Workshop to work on the ANZAC Diorama (again) yesterday.

Despairing, as I was supposed to be on call for our surgery, I implore my colleagues for help last week.

Clive and Romain step up, and take over my morning clinic, and the call for the rest of the day.
Yay! Thanks guys, you've allowed me another day of modeling, painting  and wargaming bliss!


Going past Te Papa I couldn't but notice how apt the name of their contribution to the WW100 project was to our miniature efforts. The Scale of  Our War. 

Indeed. 
The scale of "our" WW100 is 54 mm or 1:32 !


Some of us realised that we had not got photos of ourselves painting the figures. 
Here I am, starting work on the the Maori contingent.


An (inadvertent) atmospheric shot of Turks making a dawn attack?

So I arrive to find the diorama proper missing. As expected, it had already departed to  (what used to be) the Dominion Museum earlier in the week. The professional team from Weta Workshop was on site there with Rhys and the Perry brothers on hand for guidance.

 I'm sure every one of us would have loved to go to the museum and work on the diorama in its final display position.There was limited space available, and only 4 or 5 of us could go. Bo Patterson waves us goodbye as he departs. Drat!

Anyhow, plenty left to do at the Weta Workshop, and plenty of time, so we get stuck into the job at hand. Varnishing Turks first, then ANZACs. 2 of the team are already in the spray booth at the back of Weta Workshop.




Most of the fugures will probably never be seen close-up again. 
Each one is a work of art in its own right.




Turks ready for the spray booth and the varnish. 
Another unplanned likeness - are they cresting the hill or at the parapet?


Sandbags coming along nicely Bruce and Shaun!

Bruce and Shaun are hard at work spraying and painting sandbags. Alan Perry sends me off to find more spraypaint. Off to Gordon Harris, Wellington's handy dandy artist supply store. Zoom back with the spraycans, and find something to do. Time for a few snaps fist: 


ANZACs at the ready!






Roly and Rhys got their own unique models


As did other contributors to the project


I can still pick out the ANZACs I painted



A small number of British soldiers are also represented in the diorama



Varnish coat being applied in the spraybooth




Roly with the finished products - ready for the diorama !


A phone call from the museum:
Where is the Maori contingent ? What Maori contingent? Roly had painted some figures as Maori, but was told to stop, as it was the wrong figures. We painstakingly  search the hundreds (nay, thousands) of painted figures: We come up with 18 painted figures that will pass as Maori. I pick out a few that will need minimal retouching to look Maori...

 Executive decision. 
No, we'll just build and paint the required 120 figures!

Dig into the last box of unpainted and unbuilt figures. What do we have? NZ Maori ! Someone had returned a number of unpainted and unbuilt figures. Time had run out, and they couldn't finish them.

The well oiled machine springs into action. Soon we have 3 tables humming: building, removing flash and filing, gluing and prepping, base coating and painting the figures destined to become the Maori contingent.

Next thing Rhys arrives with a TVNZ crew. They interview him, Sam and some of the other guys painting at table no 1.


Sam gets interviewed by the TVNZ crew


Filming the action at table no 1.

All too soon it is 5 o'clock! Tools down boys! I tear myself away from the figures I am painting. Oh, the compulsion... I won't be able to come back to finish them tomorrow. Rhys wants to know who will not be back on Sunday. I raise my hand. "Ok, you guys can come on the tour of the museum tonight. The rest can go tomorrow. See you at the pub !"



Outside the museum



Safety briefing and background from the Armchair General. No further photos, 
What an experience NZ has in store for them. Can't wait for it to open.


Kiwi on the balustrade. No other photos inside, sorry.


Night at the museum


In the pub with some of the real-life models for the diorama and their creators.
And some good ale, of course.