As the sun set above the Magiagi Cemetery yesterday, close to 50 people gathered there to mark a very special event in the histories of Samoa and New Zealand.
The occasion was the centenary of the landing of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Samoa.
The event was marked with a wreath laying ceremony attended by Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, the Masiofo, Her Highness Filifilia Tamasese, the Speaker of the House, La’auli Leuatea Polotaivao Fosi, international dignitaries serving in Samoa from New Zealand, Australia, and other diplomatic officials including veterans.
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Wreaths were placed at the Cross of Sacrifice located in the middle of the graveyard, especially for the fallen soldiers.
Father Peniamina Tapelu, a returned service man, conducted the service.
“As we gather in this scared place, it is a call to remember the sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives for their countries and people,” he said.
Reflecting on the sacredness of the area where the graves of the former soldiers lay in a secured fenced off plot, he spoke about the faith that gave these soldiers the “courage and strength” to serve.
Such faith is “what keeps us going forward, renews our lives and gives us new beginnings,” he said.
Father Tapelu said the commemoration was an opportunity to remember “the lost lives and lost love ones who went far away to serve their countries.”
Wreaths were laid at the grave site by different officials representing; Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, England and the United States of America.
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force Samoan Advance Party - approximately 1,400 people including nurses, chaplains, mechanics, Post and Telegraph Corps and engineers – landed at Apia on 29 August 1914.
The landing of New Zealand in Samoa at the time sparked the relationship between the two countries.
Around 120 Samoan born soldiers and sailors are thought to have fought in the First World War, for both the allies, including the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and for Germany.
A commemoration also took place in New Zealand at the Auckland Cenotaph at the same time as the ceremony in Apia.
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