NZ's Liberation of Le Quesnoy, France

Some New Zealanders know about the liberation of the village of Le Quesnoy in the North of France, but most don't, and this is a real shame. Any time I had the opportunity to teach classes in France about this I went for it.

So let's dive in and see what this wonderful story is all about...

It's the 4th of November 1918 and the residents of Le Quesnoy have been suffering under German occupation for four years. The New Zealand troops are determined to capture the town.

It's an old fortress town occupying a strategic position in northeastern France.  Settlement dates back to the 12th century and its fortifications to 1536, constructed to defend what was then the Spanish Netherlands.

 After the region is captured by France in 1654 under King Louis XIV, he orders his famous military engineer Vauban to build a series of forts to protect the new north-east borders. One of these results in the town's ramparts.

After four years of occupation during WW1 there are still around 1,600 civilians in the town out of a previous population of 3000.

 Instead of bombarding the town ramparts which are protecting the Germans from assault, the NZers decide to risk their lives in order to preserve the lives of the villagers and also their homes. This would mean scaling the ramparts to get at the Germans. However, this would be very dangerous as the only way to do this would be by ladders which are too short to get to the top, leaving the kiwis sitting ducks on those ladders, where they are held back by machine-gun fire. 

Many kiwis died trying but eventually the only access is discovered;  the riflemen could position a ladder on a single, narrow ledge. It is a medieval-like assault only achievable with persistent courage.

 Led by Lieutenant Leslie Averill, the battalion's intelligence officer, this small group of men quickly climbs up the wall. After exchanging shots with fleeing Germans, the New Zealander riflemen enter Le Quesnoy and the German garrison soon surrenders. 711 Germans surrendered in Le Quesnoy.

 This was the last major action by NZers in the Great War, just a week before the armistice on 11 November. About 80 soldiers from the NZ Rifle Brigade died in the assault. 

 At Le Quesnoy, in the park, a monument commemorating the town's liberation by the New Zealand Division is set into the rampart walls, near where Averill scaled them.

Le Quesnoy is twinned with Cambridge in the North Island and St. Andrew's Church there has a memorial window depicting New Zealand soldiers scaling Le Quesnoy's ramparts. 

The town really appreciates its liberation even to this day and school children learn the haka and the story, streets have Kiwi names. ANZAC day is observed every year. 

In 2023 the New Zealand Liberation Museum-Te Arawhata was opened in Le Quesnoy to commemorate and share the stories of New Zealand's role in the liberation of Le Quesnoy and New Zealand's wider involvement in the First World War. It contains an excellent portrayal of issues the Kiwis faced in their assault and the ongoing links with NZ to this day. However, I did notice a glaring omission in their chronology of contacts between the two countries; that of the visit of General Paul to Akaroa in 1919, to say thank you to NZers for their help during the war. He then went on to visit Australia. The museum was unaware of this but I doubt this important connection will be added to their displays. 

 Weta Workshop were involved in part of the displays with an over-sized Kiwi soldier, much like what is in the Gallipoli display at Te Papa, Wellington. I'd like to have seen more of those.

 Visits to the museum cost 15 euros, or 12 euros for a senior.  

 It takes 8 hours to scroll through all the names of kiwis killed in the first World War.

The museum closes Mondays and Tuesdays. Check summer and winter hours. 

https://nzliberationmuseum.com/        03 74 58 01 85

18 Rue Achille Carlier, 59530 Le Quesnoy, France. 

Please check out the following links for more technical, military and human details relating to the town liberation. 

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/le-quesnoy/new-zealand-and-le-quesnoy 

 https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/europe/france/new-zealand-embassy/anzac-day-commemorations/le-quesnoy 

There is a lovely children's book that tells this story. It's available online, at the museum at Le Quesnoy (English and French versions) or from the Wigram Air base Museum in Christchurch, NZ. I have a copy of it and can thoroughly recommend it.

Kaikoura's Classic Car Museum

I recently stumbled upon a little treasure in Kaikoura. Feeling in need of a quick bite we pulled up to Bernie's Diner. So much fun (the way Burger King was once in the long ago past), Every thing was American retro 60s at 105 Beach Rd. 

Ah, those milkshake containers, the little collection of mustard, tomato sauce and salt on each table. Spotless presentation and the service was faster than MacDonalds Matamata. I'd done my research and knew there was another even better reason to be here: Harmon's Classic Car Museum. It was created in 2017 by father and son Geoff and Bernard Harmon with their passion for cars. It remains a private collection.

I was delighted at the range and quality of models from the USA. The British cars were simply functional and boring though that's all that many of us Kiwis would have had experience of in our youth. The American cars were plastered with chrome, terrific upholstery, glam and certainly plenty of space. You'd never fit a parking space these days with those cars. 

Such big boots with luggage space, full size spare tyres you can easily get to, bench seats - younger generations will never know how exciting those could be. It was great to see under the hood of some of the models and be able to recognise various components. In my younger days I could change a tyre, change fuses and spark plugs, fill the radiator and window washer reservoir. Things look simpler now but in reality are much more complicated these days with everything dependent on electronics. 

Inside an annex were some interesting displays of unrestored cars, a classic caravan used back in the 60s and 70s, a huge stationwagon for beach holidays complemented with a diorama, a boat and even old petrol pumps. I still remember my father filling up the car with Caltex boron. Nothing lead-free back then. My parents started out with an old Singer and then progressed to Mum having a Humber and Dad a Mark 4 Zephyr. Alas the Zephyr rolled with a caravan during high winds on a hilly road while my parents were on holiday and was badly damaged. My father, who was driving, was quite battered too but cars were pretty solid in those days. He drove it home with a stoved in roof and the windscreen held to the car by ropes. 

 American cars were hard to come by so NZ was pretty much British automobiles until Japanese imports made their presence felt and greater reliability was a blessing, along with the reduced price tag.

There were additional items included in the museum: old petrol-powered bikes from the 20s, a Vespa scooter, a beautiful terracotta-coloured bike with sidecar and old traffic cop bikes. These were before the traffic division was assimilated by the police. Honda was the preferred brand and I remember them well though I never had any 'personal' dealings with them.

In a side wing could be found a Trash Fashion display of some of the winning entries since 2001. Trash Fashion is Kaikoura's premier entertainment event. The outfits are all from recycled trash which might be toilet paper or aluminium can rings, fabric or plastic twisties for bread, to name a few elements.

The museum includes a scaled replica of the West End of the main street of Kaikoura as it was at least 70 years ago. Included are some of the important buildings that are now gone.

Once back in the diner you can buy car-centric merchandise.

I had a lot of fun here remembering my own past with cars and motorbikes, family jaunts and asociated other memories..

It's open 7 days a week for breakfast and lunch, doughnuts and milkshakes, burgers and coffee.   www.harmons.co.nz