Lest we forget...

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
Laurence Binyon

Firstly, I'd like to apologise to you all, because there is so much I want to tell you and in doing so, todays blog might be a little disjointed, but I'll try my best to keep to the point.

Well, an emotionally charged day today. I was very humbled to be able to visit the grave of my Nan's brother who lost his life in world war 1. As soon as we crossed the road and got to the entrance I was completely overcome with emotion. Thoughts of our Koro laying here in foreign lands was completely pushed aside as I found his headstone and realised he was not alone, but with other members of his battalion who flanked either side of him. When we arrived at the cemetery, it was almost all covered in fog and as soon as we found koro's headstone the fog cleared and the sun warmed us.

When you visit each of the Commonwealth cemetaries, they have guest books which are housed in brass cupboards on the gate entrance. It was amazing to see names from some of our Whanganui whānau who had also been to pay their respects to those of our ancestors who rest in foreign soil. The feeling at that time, is completely indescribable and as I placed the photo and a poppy we took over, against his headstone, I immediately thought of all our whānau who have left the physical realm, the whānau who are still with us and also the whānau of his comrades who have yet to make this trip. So during my visit, I had all my whānau and extended whānau in my thoughts as I stood in front of our koroua.

With the advances in technology, I was able to ring my mother to tell her I was at koro's resting place. While I was talking to her, I could hear in her voice how pleased one of us could make it there. I also rang my cousin, who was in Raetihi at the time with our whānau from the South Island to let them know I had made it to our koro's resting place. I felt a sense of contentment and completeness (not sure if those are the words I'm looking for to describe it)

I still cannot believe that I actually made it to Ieper and to Koro Manukura's resting place.

If you've watched the video clip or looked at the photos on Facebook you will see that they are very well looked after here. One thing I learnt today was that the soldiers were buried near to wear they were killed or near the wrap station they were tended to. I also learnt that Birr Crossroads is the only cemetery that has the NZ Māori Battalion soldiers in it in Ieper.
We spent over an hour at the Cemetery before we headed back into town for a Belgium Hot Chocolate.

André Schaubroeck

We made our way back to the hotel where we let the kids run around for a little while before our tour of Flanders Battlefields.
We had the most knowledgable tour guide, André Schaubroeck, who changed the tour for us and took us around a lot of the New Zealand battle sites and memorials. The information we gained from todays tour is completely invaluable and one we will remember for a very long time.  Because the tour lasted over 4 hours, we were able to record on video bits n pieces which we will try and upload over the next couple of days.

In short we got to experience underground bunkers, trenches and battle fields.  We also got to see memorials and pay our respects to our fallen Kiwi soldiers here in Belgium.

We arrived back at our hotel at 5pm, Ian and I went down to the Fish n Chip shop to get some tea for us all as he and I were going to return to Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony.
If you're interested here is a bit of reading about the Menin Gate and The Last Post Association. http://www.lastpost.be/en/x/1352

Again, when my editor gets back to me with the edited videos, I will be able to upload them for you to get a fair idea of the history of this place.

This is my last post from Belgium for tomorrow we depart for Rome.
I want to thank the Flemish people and the locals of Ieper, from the bottom of my heart for the care and respect they give our soldiers who lay here, many miles from our shores of New Zealand.  The remembrance service they hold each night for all those men and woman who lost their lives serving their country.  This is an experience I will never ever forget.

I feel I have a close affiliation with this place and will miss it extremely.  We will definitely be coming back in the very near future.
But for now, it's goedenacht (which is Flemish for goodnight) from Ieper, Belgium and as we leave tomorrow, we can leave with the knowledge that our fallen soldiers are in very good hands.

We will remember them - Lest we forget