Prince Charles honours New Zealand’s fallen in Battle of Somme

Longueval (France) (AFP) – Britain’s Prince Charles led ceremonies Thursday honouring the sacrifices of thousands of New Zealand soldiers during the Battle of the Somme 100 years ago in northern France.

“Standing in this peaceful scene today it is hard to imagine that a century ago this was an infernal, blasted wasteland,” Charles said in the town of Longueval alongside New Zealand’s Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee and Jean-Marc Todeschini, France’s junior minister for veterans’ affairs.

The Caterpillar Valley cemetery in Longueval recalls “how much France owes to its allies,” Todeschini said.

“There were 128,000 New Zealanders who left their island to come and fight in France alongside the Allies in a spirit of brotherhood that would manifest itself in the heart of the trenches, in the heart of the horror,” he added.

The Battle of the Somme, which started on July 1, 1916, took a brutal toll on New Zealand’s 15,000-strong division in the country’s first major engagement on the Western Front.

During the offensive, which involved the use of poison gas shells and relentless artillery fire, 2,000 of the New Zealand Division died and nearly 6,000 men were wounded.

More than 1,500 were killed in September and October alone. Some 1,200 have no known grave and their names are inscribed on the memorial in Longueval.

“Measured against the enormity of this suffering and sacrifice, our presence here today may seem small and insignificant,” said Prince Charles, who was wearing a New Zealand army uniform for the first time since being appointed a field marshal in the force last year.

“Yet we gather with pride and humility to remember the service of all who fell or were injured here.”