23 Apr 2023

Herb Farant: Remembering Le Quesnoy

From Sunday Morning, 8:10 am on 23 April 2023

Historian Herb Farrant joins us in the buildup to ANZAC Day, not from Gallipoli, but from another place in the world where our sacrifices in the First World War will always be remembered. 

New Zealand flag handing outside Le Quesnoy's war-damaged town hall in 1918

New Zealand flag handing outside Le Quesnoy's war-damaged town hall in 1918 Photo: Alexander Turnbull Library

The assault on the fortified town of Le Quesnoy in France was the last act by the New Zealand troops in the First World War. Kiwis have regularly made a pilgrimage walking across fields to the town on Anzac Day, taking the same route the New Zealand Rifle Brigade took in 1918.

New Zealand troops marching through Le Quesnoy on 10 November 1918.

New Zealand troops marching through Le Quesnoy on 10 November 1918. Photo: Supplied / Ville Le Quesnoy

Herb is President of the New Zealand Military Historical Society and the man behind the creation of a Memorial Museum in Le Quesnoy.