From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 1, May 2002.

Rear Admiral Peter McHaffie, the New Zealand Chief of Naval Staff, paid a brief visit to Tonga to attend the Anzac Day dawn anniversary service at Mala‘e Pangai on Friday April 25.

He is thought to be the highest-ranking officer of the New Zealand defence services to ever visit the Kingdom.

The Rear Admiral said that Anzac day was very important for New Zealand and Australia, but it was marked in Tonga because of the military relationship between the two countries, “and our shared membership at the Commonwealth”.

It was the 87th anniversary of the landing by the Australian and New Zealand forces on 25 April 1915 at the Gallipoli Peninsular, Turkey. A disastrous military campaign by the Allied forces, which included British and French forces, resulted in a large number of New Zealand and Australian soldiers being lost.

Admiral McHaffie, told the dawn gathering of the importance of the Anzac anniversary. “The point is that even in this lovely region remote from the conflict of the Northern Hemisphere, the war came down, so this is the day we remember those who died to defend our freedom.”

Admiral McHaffie also mentioned the history of military connection between New Zealand and Tonga which he said was evident, “the Taliai Camp and Masefield Base are two good reminders, a Tongan soldier and a New Zealand Officer who died fighting along side each other at Guadal canal, in the Solomons.”

Human rights

He said that New Zealanders valued Liberty, Justice, and Human Rights, “not only within New Zealand, but for those values to be shared among our neighbours across the region, these values may seem intangible but it is recognised when these values are under threat.” He reminded the gathering that Anzac day was a day to remember the men and women who fought and died for those values. “New Zealand and Australia committed troops to Afghanistan and East Timor because we recognised that some of those important values have to be fought for.”