We Remember Them.

The Papakura RSA on Elliott Street served our local community for many years. As times have changed the doors have now closed however we continue to Support & Remember our Veterans along with holding the Annual Dawn Services.

If you're looking for a new local club to attend we'd recommend contacting The Papakura Club on Croskery Road.

Supporting & Remembering Our Veterans.

Committee

President

Max Rendel 

(021) 644 186

Vice President

Warwick Power 

(021) 108 5433

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is a national day of commemoration observed on 25 April each year. It commemorates those who died serving New Zealand during war and it honours returned servicemen and women, past and present. 25 April marks the day in 1915 when Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed at Gallipoli in Turkey, the site of New Zealand’s first major battle of World War One with the loss of over 2,700 New Zealand soldiers.

The Anzac Day dawn service is a moving rite of passage for many kiwis. Every year, thousands of Kiwis and Australians – young and old – travel to Gallipoli.

Since the first commemorative services in 1916, ANZAC Day has evolved into the observance we know today, with Kiwis and Australians of all ages attending services and events across the world, from dawn until dusk.
In the afternoon we relax, spend time with our loved ones and if we are lucky, enjoy a day off work or school.

We honour the Anzac values of courage, compassion, camaraderie, and commitment and a time we depended on each other as brothers.

” Anzac stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that will never own defeat…..”

“Australian and New Zealand soldiers were seen to have displayed great courage, endurance, initiative, and discipline….. life would not have been worth living if they had betrayed the idea of mate-ship….. the Anzac rejected unnecessary restriction possessed a sardonic sense of humour, was contemptuous of danger, and proved himself of the equal of anyone on the battlefield.

The Ode

World War I, 1914-1918, changed many people’s understanding of conflict. Young men from across the world enlisted, or were conscripted to fight. Battles took place in many please- at sea, in Gallipoli (Turkey), Middle East, Eastern Europe and in the infamous trenches of Western Europe. Millions of people died in terrible conditions. The war introduced new technology, resulting in far more injuries in conflict than before with medical science striving to keep up with new horrors. Battles lasted months rather than just hours or days. After the war ended some people just wanted life to return to normal, but too many had died or been injured for the war to be forgotten. 

Groups and associations were created to remember what had happened and to commemorate the sacrifice that so many had made. The act of a Two Minute Silence began on the anniversary of Armistice Day on the 11th of November 1919.

THE ODE
They shall not grow 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.

from “For the Fallen”
by: Laurence Binyon
1914

Unknown Warrior

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior serves as a focus of remembrance of the sacrifice made by New Zealand servicemen and women in time of war.

The Unknown Warrior is one of over 250,000 New Zealanders who served in overseas wars. He is one of over 30,000 who died in service. He is one of over 9,000 who have no known grave or whose remains could never be recovered.

We will never know his name, rank, regiment, race, religion or any other detail of his life, except that he was a New Zealander.

He represents all New Zealanders who were never to return from war.

Armistice Day

Armistice Day, also known as remembrance day, took effect on the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. It commemorates the armistice signed between the allies of the World War 1 and Germany at Compiegn, France for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front.

Armistice can too often focus on battles and conflicts rather than the men and women affected by them. However, the focus and purpose of the Armistice day is to remember those that fought in the war. It is the opportunity remember and honour those that lost their lives and reflect upon the human cost of war and the importance of their sacrifice for peace.