February 14, 2024
Whakairo a resting place at Le Quesnoy
The last of four carved park benches taken to France during the Rugby World Cup has found its home at a museum marking the contribution of New Zealand soldiers to the liberation of a small town at the end of World War 1.
Le Quesnoy (Lur Keen-wa) just over the border from Belgium still has an annual commemoration of the event, and last October it opened Yer Arawhata, the New Zealand Liberation Museum.
Manager Josh Hansen says the bench carved at the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua has been placed at the museum entrance.
“It sits just out front of our museum, and we had a great ceremony with over 300 locals, New Zealand Rugby, Ngāti Rānana – which really embodied the essence of what the museum is about – community and this enduring bond,” he says.
Josh Hansen says Le Quesnoy celebrates Anzac Day two days after we do – and he hopes that it will also becomes an Anzac destination for New Zealanders in Europe at the time.