Heritage Week marks centenary of end of WWI
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With this year marking 100 years since the end of World War I, a number of events during Beca Heritage Week honour the sacrifices made by the men and women who served their country.
In the four years of World War I, 98,950 New Zealand soldiers and nurses served overseas; 18,058 of those died and many thousands more were injured.
Armistice celebrations, Cathedral Square 1918. E M Lovell-Smith collection, Canterbury Museum.
“It is important we never forget the sacrifices that were made and the toll war takes so I would really encourage people to take the opportunity during Beca Heritage Week to attend at least one of the events that mark the centenary of the end of World War I,’’ says Christchurch City Council Head of Urban Regeneration, Urban Design and Heritage, Carolyn Ingles.
“Canterbury Museum has been running an exhibition which focuses on the experiences of Cantabrians who served on the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East during World War I and on the experiences of those they left behind.
“On Tuesday 16 and Thursday 18 October at 3.30pm they’re going to run free one hour tours that take in the World War I exhibition which also covers the influenza pandemic, as well as the display marking Kate Sheppard’s role in achieving suffrage for women, two other anniversaries commemorated in the events this year.’’
The courage of the airmen who flew during the First World War will be in the spotlight at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand on Saturday 13 October. Between 1.30pm and 2.30pm the museum will be conducting a series of short talks based around items from its collections.
Knox Church is hosting a Voices Against War exhibition as part of its open day on the afternoon of Sunday 14 October.
There is also a talk at the University of Canterbury’s Teece Museum at The Arts Centre on the evening of Tuesday 16 October exploring the Homeric echoes in the way we remember World War I.
Armistice Day will be remembered and showcased at the Council-owned heritage building, Avebury House, on Thursday 18 October, while on the same day the church at Ferrymead Heritage Park will host Melodies of the Past, an hour-long pipe organ concert featuring music from the World War I era.
In the Selwyn District over Labour Weekend images from the First World War are part of displays at the From Prebbles’ Town to Prebbleton and A Slice of Ellesmere History Beca Heritage Week events.