Prince of Wales to attend NZ Somme centenary commemorations

Prime Minister John Key today welcomed the announcement that His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales will attend the New Zealand Battle of the Somme commemorations in Longueval, France.

The Prince of Wales will attend the wreathlaying at the New Zealand Battlefield Memorial at the Caterpillar Valley War Cemetery on 15 September. 

The Government will be represented by Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee and Ambassador to France James Kember.

“The Prince of Wales has attended many commemorations for New Zealand, both during the First World War centenary period, and on other occasions,” Mr Key says.

“We are honoured that he will join New Zealanders as we mark one of the most significant and costly campaigns for our country during the First World War.

“Prince Charles will attend the commemoration as Field Marshal of the New Zealand Army, an honorary appointment that was acknowledged in November last year in Wellington, and when His Royal Highness joined New Zealand Defence Force personnel in Westport during Exercise Southern Katipo.”

The Prince of Wales will also take the opportunity to meet young people from New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, who are in France learning more about their countries’ participation in the Battle of the Somme. 

Notes to editors:

• The Battle of the Somme was New Zealand’s first major engagement on the Western Front. It took a huge toll on the 15,000 members of the New Zealand Division who were involved.
• The Division sustained 8000 casualties and 2111 soldiers were killed in action. The New Zealand Memorial to the Missing in Caterpillar Valley cemetery lists 1205 names. New Zealand’s Unknown Warrior was exhumed from this cemetery and reinterred at the National War Memorial in 2004.
• For more information on New Zealand’s Battle of the Somme commemorations in France, visit www.WW100.govt.nz/somme