"Lest We Forget"

HBHS Head Prefect Soumil Singh began the 2015 ANZAC Assembly by reminding the Year 9 and 13 students who were gathered together in front of the War Memorial that "remembrance is a duty" and arranged in front of the Memorial were 30 white crosses which bear the names of New Zealand men and women who gave their lives in WWI.  Every secondary school in New Zealand was sent 30 crosses, each inscribed with the name of a New Zealander who made the ultimate sacrifice, by the New Zealand Government as part of the ANZAC Centenary Commemorations, and today HBHS paid tribute to all of those people who gave their lives not only in WWI but in all of the wars that have followed since.  Deputy Head Prefects Aidan Clarkin-Rush and Daniel Ng read the names of the 41 HBHS Old Boys who were killed in WWI and whose names are on the HBHS War Memorial, and Deputy Head Prefect Alex Kennedy reminded the students that these men were just like them, in so many ways.  Many of the soldiers who went to war were teenagers who went in the spirit of service, and whilst those of us lucky enough to be at the Assembly today in 2015 can never fully understand the horror or bravery of war, we can understand the lesson in the hope that such a sacrifice need never be made again.  The ANZAC Assembly was not to honour war, but to honour the courage and service of previous generations.  Guest Speaker and Old Boy Mr Nic Greene (of the RNZAF) spoke of New Zealand's contributions past and present to peace-keeping around the world and reminded the Assembly of the famous quote attributed to Edmund Burke that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".  The Assembly concluded with the laying of a wreath at the Memorial, and the playing of the "Last Post."

Back to News