93rd Anniversary of the Battle of Messines: Mesen, Belgium

I am honoured to be here today.

I appreciate the considerable effort that you have gone to this year and every year to honour the fallen and to include me in your commemorations. 

A sense of history pervades such an occasion. We stand together today, as our soldiers did almost a century ago, in respect of the values we hold dear.

The sacrifices made were great and the conditions abysmal. For contemporary generations Glyn Harper's book "The Dark Journey" brings the events of four generations ago into the present.

As stretcher bearer Private Linus T J Ryan recorded:

"Picture an expanse of black mud as far as the eye can see. Shell craters everywhere . . . The craters merged into [each] other. Perhaps a stormy sea suddenly converted into semi-liquid mud would hint at the configuration of the land . . . not a single tree remains, only few jagged splintered stumps. Not a leaf, not a blade of grass, but everywhere the debris of war, human and inanimate."

The sacrifices our soldiers made during World War 1 have come to define part of New Zealand's identity. Young and old continue actively to participate in WW1 commemorative activities, especially ANZAC Day in New Zealand.

Those that gather remember their forbears that travelled so far to fight for what they believed.

So I am proud to be present with you in recognition of the bonds forged by New Zealanders during WW1.

They laid down their lives at the Battle of Messines, with Irish colleagues amongst others, and forged bonds that continue to unite communities like the townships of Mesen and Featherston.

Mesen has been twinned with Featherston since 1975. For many of the New Zealand servicemen in WW1, their last memory of New Zealand was their time spent at Featherston's military camp before leaving to serve in Belgium.

The twinning of the two towns helps keep memories like this alive.

I understand the town square in Mesen has a map of New Zealand embedded in the pavement, and the only town marked on that map is Featherston.

At the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Messines I (7 June 2007), the New Zealand Minister of State Services, Annette King, visited Flanders - and the Mayors of both Mesen and Featherston were present.

The Mayor of South Wairarapa, Adrienne Staples, has asked me pass on her high regard to the people of Mesen.

Commemoration brings the past into the present. It is about the values we share and it is about the sacrifices made to uphold them.

New Zealand's and Belgium's armed forces continue to fight for our shared values today.

Our nations are together in Afghanistan with other like-minded countries for that reason.

Both countries make significant contributions to peacekeeping and nation-building operations around the world.

Commemoration of the heroism and sacrifices of the past unites us in history.

Lest we forget.