Fallen Anzacs lie in the soil of ‘friendly country': Te Hira Henderson
There, where the waters of Waingurunguru fall before the sacred pōhutukawa tree, leap. Dive into the ocean to Whitireia and Rehia, the children of Tangaroa/God of the sea and fish, to carry you all to Manawatāwhi/Three Kings Island. From this island you will come up from the ocean through its freshwater blowhole to be gathered up by te kupenga a Taramainuku /the net of Taramainuku.
Taramainuku is the star who gathers the dead into his waka, Te Waka o te Rangi, taking you into the underworld to Hine-nui-te-pō, the Goddess of the Night.
Upon the rise of Matariki/Pleiades, Taramainuku will release you all back into Rangi-nui to become stars, kua whetūrangitia/to appear in the night sky. For this Te Waka o Te Rangi, a star constellation, will be led by the rise of Matariki at its front with Tautoru/Orions Belt at its rear.
In the night sky is Pōhutukawa/Sterope, the eldest star. It stands apart from the others with the duty of holding you all safe in the night. E moe, sleep.
Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate, the dead to the dead.
Te hunga ora ki te hunga ora, the living to the living.
Tihewa mauri ora, let there be life.
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie Chotek, the Duchess of Hohenburg, were assassinated in Sarajevo, the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by a Bosnian Serb nationalist in the belief it would liberate Bosnia from Austrian-Hungarian rule.
Four weeks later on July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, triggering WWI, and Britain entered the war on August 4, 1914 with Australia and Aotearoa.
From April 25, 1915 to January 6, 1916, invading troops from Australia and New Zealand, along with Allied forces, tried to capture Constantinople and gain control of the Dardanelles Strait.
The Ottoman forces under Mastafa Kemal Ataturk successfully defended their homeland at Gallipoli, defeating the Allied forces. The Allied forces withdrew from their failed invasion in January 1916.
Therefore, likewise in this grief, greetings of love upon greetings of tears to you, the Ottoman soldiers, the heroes who fell standing on your homeland soil in defence of it, ka tika he mihi tangi, he mihi aroha hoki kia koutou rā. As too, also to your mothers. Remain forever in peace with Allah.
On the far away home shores of Gallipoli stands the Ari Burnu Memorial inscribed with a quote from the first president of your Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, to the world and its mothers. It reads:
'Those heroes who shed their blood
and lost their lives …
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
and the Mehmets to us where they lie by side
here in this country of ours …
You, the mothers
who sent their sons from far way countries
wipe away your tears;
Your sons are now lying in our bosom
and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have
become our sons as well.'
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Rolly (left) and Bob Janek served for 20 years in the RNZAF. PHOTO: RNZAF Bob's quick footwork earned him the nickname 'The Hare', while Rolly's fondness for champagne earned him 'Bubbles'. However, there were occasions when the mischievous pair came unstuck. 'One of our instructors was a corporal called Digby Bentley. One night we both snuck off the base into town and got t-shirts made up saying 'Digby Bentley: Public Enemy Number One'. We got into a lot of trouble for that,' Rolly said. The twins had to clean toilets and scrub floors for two weeks as punishment, Bob said. Rolly was posted to RNZAF Base Ohakea after completing his military police training, while Bob remained at Wigram. Three years later, Bob was transferred to the air force base at Ohakea, only to find Rolly had just been posted to Whenuapai. 'We were never allowed to be on the same base together. I think we were too much trouble,' Rolly said. Even when they did catch up, things didn't always go smoothly. 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After his stint with the air force, Rolly joined the firefighting crew at Hamilton Airport, before becoming maintenance co-ordinator at Waikato University. Rolly (left) and Bob Janek both served in RNZAF but were never stationed together. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN Bob retired from the air force in 1996 and shifted to Christchurch where he spent nine years loading aircraft for Air New Zealand before becoming a steward. However, his aviation career was halted when he was badly hurt in the February 2011 earthquake. Bob now volunteers as a guide at the Air Force Museum in Wigram. He works alongside Chris Checketts, the son of World War 2 fighter ace Johnny Checketts, who also flew in Europe during the war. 'We haven't been able to find any records of my dad's forced service with the Germans. But it's possible our dads may have met each other in combat,' Bob said. 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