Armistice Day - Fields of Remembrance

This weekend (11 November 2018) we mark the one hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Armistice and the end of World War One. One of the key memorials is a moving installation at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. There stands a field of 18,277 white crosses named for each New Zealander who died in the war.

There are 18.277 crosses in the Auckland Domain as part of the Fields of Remembrance commemoration initiative.

Fields of Remembrance is a New Zealand wide memorial initiative where local communities of all sizes recognise those who served and lost their lives. Each field has a named cross for New Zealanders killed in the war. Red poppies symbolising hope and regrowth are placed by every cross.

Poppies are placed by every cross in the Fields of Remembrance.

The Brothers’ Field at the Auckland War Memorial Field of Remembrance commemorates the families who lost more than one child. The Field is divided into families who lost two members; three members and four members. Seven hundred and 14 families lost more than one child in WW1, 53 families lost three boys, and nine families lost four sons. Twenty-three families lost brothers on the same day of battle.

The Wellington Field of Remembrance at the Botanic Gardens. Image credit www.fieldsofremembrance.org.nz

The Auckland installation will remain in place until 15 November when crosses are able to be uplifted by family or friends of the person being honoured.

The Fields of Remembrance Trust is made up of the Auckland RSA, The Passchendaele Society and the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association. (RNZRSA)

The Brother’s Field - remembering siblings who lost their lives in the war.