Passchendaele Society

Retirees from the Board

On Wednesday 14th March the current Board & partners met for a jovial evening at the Wine Chambers Restaurant to celebrate all of our achievements over the past 7 1/2 years. Two founding Board members have retired, including Ken Young (Commemorations Director, back row, 2nd from right) and Chris Mullane (Vice President & Memorial & Garden Project Director, front row right). Iain McKenzie (front row left) also stepped down as President, but is staying on the Board as immediate Past President.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A huge thank-you to these three hardly suffices for all the hard work they have put into the Passchendaele Society.

The Society was set up in 2011 to:

• Increase community awareness of New Zealand’s history in the First World War at Passchendaele and the Western Front
• Educate younger generations of New Zealand about this history
• Honour the war dead
• Facilitate access and promote visits to historic and commemorative sites.
• Support conservation and interpretation of heritage material from Passchendaele and the Western Front.
• Maintain contact with the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage and other organisations who share our objectives.

Outcomes:

• Raised the levels of awareness in the community by providing information to television, radio, newspapers and magazines
• Greater knowledge of Passchendaele and the Western Front in young people.
• We have produced the New Zealand Remembrance Trail to encourage the community to visit Passchendaele and the Western Front.
• Set up Fields of Remembrance Trust which established more than 100,000 personalised white crosses in fields of remembrance throughout New Zealand and in almost all schools
• Established a competition “Their Stories-Our Stories” created through Ministry of Education. Presentation at Parliament by Minister of Education.
• Established a competition created through Ministry of Education “Why I Want To Be In Passchendaele in October 2017.” 10 students were chosen as winners and took part in the New Zealand Memorial & Garden opening in Passchendaele.
• Established the annual Passchendaele Commemoration Ceremony at the Auckland War Memorial Museum to honour the war dead. Described by Museum Director Roy Clare as “ the perfect blend of reflection , thoughtfulness, music, reverence, honour and ceremony.”
• Planned and created the New Zealand Memorial & Garden in the Passchendaele Memorial Park in Zonnebeke which was opened at the Centennial Commemoration of the Battle of Passchendaele on October 12th, 2017.
• Supported exhibitions of heritage material supplied by Passchendaele Memorial Museum 1917 (Belgium) and the New Zealand Defence Force.
• Supported art exhibitions here in New Zealand showcasing the Passchendaele story.
• Established regular and continuous contacts with the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the WW100 and other related organisations