Colin Farley, CFA sponsor and Founder Member of The CFA, presented Mick Gale, The CFA’s International Projects Director and Peace Fields Project Ambassador, with a Peace Poppy Ball which Mick will take with him to Turnbull Thomson Park , Peace Pitch, Invercargill, New Zealand. Mick will also present Southland Football with their Peace Field Project Plaque which will officially twin their designated are of play with Flanders Peace Field, Mesen, Belgium.
Colin Farley, said, ‘This is truly a ground breaking event that brings the 66th peace pitch into a growing International community’. ‘New Zealand’s contribution to the First World War was astonishing and will never be forgotten’. Mick Gale, added, ‘The first ever peace pitch in New Zealand commemorates all wars and celebrates peace through play’. ‘There is a tremendous sense of pride at Southland Football for their peace pitch.’ ‘ I know that the CFA are delighted that New Zealand will have a plaque displayed at the Peace Pitch, Mesen, under the shadow of the New Zealand War Memorial. ‘There’s plenty of scope for schools and clubs across New Zealand, to now connect with the Peace Pitch in Invercargill and the ICFA’s online resources.’ There are now currently 66 Interantional Peace Field Projects in 5 continents.
Turnbull Thomson Park , Peace Pitch, 199 Islington Street, Invercargill, 9810, New Zealand is twinned with Flanders Peace Field, Mesen, Belgium, site of the First World War 1914 Christmas Truces.
New Zealand’s first ever peace pitch is twinned the Peace, Flanders, Mesen, Belgium, site of the First World War, 1914, Christmas truces. Next door to the Peace Pitch, Mesen, you will find the New Zealand War Memorial. The total number of New Zealand troops and nurses to serve overseas in 1914–18, excluding those in British and other forces, was 100,444, from a population of just over a million. Forty-two percent of men of military age served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, fighting in the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front. 16,697 New Zealanders were killed and 41,317 were wounded during the war – a 58 percent casualty rate. Approximately a further thousand men died within five years of the war’s end, as a result of injuries sustained, and 507 died while training in New Zealand between 1914 and 1918.
