Le Quesnoy Anzac Day commemorations
Cambridge was well represented in France for Anzac Day commemorations over the weekend and the 25th anniversary of the sister city relationship with Le Quesnoy.
Students and teachers from Cambridge High School School at Le Quesnoy for Anzac Day commemorations. Photo: Supplied
The 28 students from Cambridge High School and their four teachers were at the service outside Te Arawhata – the New Zealand Liberation Museum.
They led the New Zealand anthem watched by Waipā deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk, Cambridge Community Board members Alana Mackay and Philip Coles and Jo and Brendan Lindsay from Cambridge Stud.
The students, who return home tomorrow (Friday) also visited Paris, Nîmes, Gimont and Annecy and Le Quesnoy staying in homestays while doing the traditional tourist visits to the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Versailles and Paris Disneyland.
Cambridge Community Board members Philip Coles, left, and Alana Mackay sign a declaration acknowledging the 25th anniversary of the Sister City relationship between Le Quesnoy in France and Cambridge with back row, from left Le Quesnoy deputy mayor Axelle Declerck, mayor Marie-Sophie Lesne, Allier secretary general Hélène Demolombe Tobie, Waipā deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk and New Zealand’s ambassador to France Caroline Bilkey. Photo: Supplied
Te Arawhata is a visitor experience created by Wētā Workshop and tells the story of the Kiwi soldiers who liberated the French town of Le Quesnoy on November 4, 1918. Te Arawhata marked Anzac Day with a weekend of remembrance from April 25 – 27, with the service on Sunday.
Later Coles and Mackay signed a declaration marking the 25th anniversary of the relationship between Cambridge and Le Quesnoy watched by Le Quesnoy deputy mayor Axelle Declerck, mayor Marie-Sophie Lesne, Allier secretary general Hélène Demolombe Tobie, Stolwyk and New Zealand’s ambassador to France Caroline Bilkey.
Waipā deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk, second left, and councillor Philip Coles outside the Le Quesnoy Museum in France for the Anzac Day commemorations with the town’s deputy mayor Axelle Declerck and mayor Marie-Sophie Lesne. Photo: Supplied
The visit also included a Last Post ceremony, a visit to Le Quesnoy Communal Cemetery where 50 New Zealand soldiers are buried, visits to the nearby towns of Beaudignies, Romeries and Vertigneul and an Anzac dinner where a three-course authentic French meal was served followed by a kapa haka performance by Ngāti Rānana – the London Māori club.
Cambridge representatives at the Le Quesnoy Anzac commemorations.
All representatives travelled at their own cost with only the $150 cost of a gift – a hand drawn art piece by Saiorse Herewini – covered by Cambridge Community Board.
