Otago Boys' Old Boys' Remembered At Messines Ridge

By Teddy George | Posted: Thursday June 29, 2017

On 3 June I flew out of New Zealand and made my way over to Brussels, Belgium. I spent 1 night in Brussels before moving to a small town named Kemmel which was about a 10 minute drive to where the Messines Ridge memorial was held. 

On 7 June at 8 o'clock in morning we left our apartment and traveled to Messin for the centenary. The centenary went for about 3 hours and during this time the New Zealand soldiers were commemorated. 

During this time I laid a wreath on behalf of the two boys from Otago Boys' High School. After this commemoration everyone gathered around at the church just down the road for a get together where people came up to me and recognised the Otago Boys' uniform. To my surprise there were many New Zealanders there from all over the country. 

This experience is one that will stay with me for life.

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