Shortly after midnight 102 years ago, a 25 year-old Kiwi smeared grease over his entire body and jumped naked from a British Destroyer into the waters of the
Aegean Sea.
Alone, he swam through the darkness across the
Gulf of Saros. 27 hours later a Cutter on patrol in the Mediterranean picked him up, seven miles off the coast of
Gallipoli.
An hour after that, the
Anzacs stormed the beaches.
I was pleased to accept an invitation to attend the re-opening of
Freyberg Place in central Auckland this evening.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to pay my respects to New Zealand's seventh
Governor General: Lieutenant-General
Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg. VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO.
-SRA. Auckland, 16/x 2017 (reposted.)
