On November 4 in 1918, New Zealand soldiers liberated the small French town of Le Quesnoy. We look at this little-known part of our history and the links that endure 100 years on. Say the name Leslie Averill in Le Quesnoy and the locals will point you to the pre-school and the road opposite. Both […]
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As the centenary approaches, Lord Michael Ashcroft remembers New Zealand’s greatest achievement in World War I.
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One week before the Armistice, a Kiwi contingent liberated the town of Le Quesnoy after four years of German occupation. Leslie Averill, 21, led the way to liberate Le Quesnoy from occupation towards the end of World War I. It was a novel action involving a ladder, dash and daring.
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New Zealand’s huge participation in the Great War of 1914-18 was the most-filmed event in our history up until that time. As 10 percent of our entire population donned khaki uniforms, marched onto troopships and sailed halfway around the world to fight and die for the British Empire, motion picture cameras were on hand to […]
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Pokarekare ana and La Marseillaise floated through the chill air above rows of New Zealand graves in the village of Le Quesnoy during the first Anzac Day service of the year. Every year since 1923 the people of this small village in northern France have marked Anzac Day on the Sunday before April 25.
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The residents of Le Quesnoy, France, have never forgotten the town’s heroic liberation by Kiwi soldiers in 1918. Now is the time for New Zealand to honour our heroes and heritage. Smoke, gunfire and – as 300 flaming oil drums crashed onto the ramparts – fire. The liberation of Le Quesnoy in northern France, wrote […]
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