RSA Review Spring 2020

6 RSA REVIEW • spring 2020 Leadership statements a year to forget – but remember BJ Clark National president RNZRSA RSAWITH A VIEW: Alistair Kerr Get 'value' from the RSA – a guide for newcomers As a ‘fifth form’ schoolboy back in 1944, I fol- lowed the war news with interest. Most of the news was about the big losses the American forces were suffering in trying to reverse the Japanese advances so that they could land on and develop bases in several islands. However, I recently came across information which explained the strategy and, even more, the reason for the use of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By July 1944, the American campaign to counter the southwardadvances of the Japanese forces in the western Pacific was beginning to show some successes…the Battle of the Coral Sea, Guadalcanal and the Solomons. Japanese bases had been captured and its forces were beingdrivennorthwards. In fact, theAlliedHigh Command was now in a position to consider an eventual attack on the Japanese mainland. The first consideration was to secure bases closer to Japan, and the selected area was in the Marianas Group. Three islands there (Saipan, Tinian and Guam) and two others closer to Japan (Iwo Jima and Okinawa), were seen, as one writer describes them, as “being unsinkable aircraft carriers which had no need to turn into wind to launch their planes”. This choice was backed by the availability of a new long-range bomber, the Boeing B-29, which had the range make the return trip to Japanese targets. Within a few months the first three islands had been occupied - but at the cost of learning a hard lesson It was known that the Japanese Bushido code of honour said surrender was shameful and death honourable, but it was demonstrated beyond belief by the Japanese army units on these islands .Once the islands had been occupied by an overwhelmingly larger force of the US military, the Japanese took cover in the myriads of caves available andwere flushed out only by means of napalm and flame throwers. To compound the situation, the Japanese were killing the civilian population who wanted to surrender, or, worse still, were ‘brainwashed ’ or physically driven to jump off precipitous cliffs onto jagged rocks or into the sea. The Americans saw this as a clear indica- tion that if this sort of resistance were to be encountered away from the mainland, how much more intense it would be if they were defending their home soil. The Japanese High Command lost no time inmaking it clear that is exactlywhat the population, led by an emperor whose word was seen as divine and must be obeyed, would do. There is no doubt the US High Command evaluated the situation and realised an all-out invasion of Japan would result in the cost of millions of lives, both American and Japanese. Another factor was the emergence of kamikaze tactic where Japanese pilots used their planes as a guided missiles for suicide attacks on US. warships. (One of our local RSAmembers, who was a Royal Marine on the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable, had a miraculous escape when the ship was hit by one of these attacks). In the meantime the USA had developed the atomic bomb and while, as yet, they had no clear idea of its destructive potential, they saw it as a weapon which had enough power as to demonstrate what might well happen if Japandidnot surrender.When the Japanesewar cabinet remained defiant, vowing to defend the country to the last man, woman and child, the decision was made to use the bomb. At 0800 on August 9 , 1945 the B-29 Enola Gay, with Col Paul Tibbetts in command, banked slightly over the city of Hiroshima and commenced her bomb run. At 081 the bomb was released, a flash of light lit up the world - and our world would never be the same again. Even after learning the horrible results, the Japanese government remained defiant and the decisionwas made to drop a second bomb, this time over Nagasaki. There followed a tense few days. Within the Japanese government, there were three factions. One advocated “no surrender - fight to the end”. Another wanted complete but conditional surrender, The third was sufficiently realistic to see that, given the mighty forces ranged against them, the sur- render could only be unconditional. ThedeadlockwasbrokenbyEmperorHirohito, who saw the practicality of the third option. In an imperial rescript, he told his people they would have to “accept the previously unacceptable” and agree to the Allied terms. The rescript was broadcast and published on August. World War 2 was over. In a speech at Guildhall on November 24, 1992 to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession, the expression annus horribilus to describe a horribleyearwasbrought tomodernprominence by Queen Elizabeth 2. She said: “1992 is not a year on which I shall look backwithundiluted pleasure. In thewords of one of mymore sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.” Well, I will resurrect the term to describe what we have been through since going into lockdown in March this year. The cancella- tion of Poppy Day, the cancellation of Anzac Day as we know it, and now having to hold a virtual National Council, has certainly tested our resolve. None of these decisions was made lightly, and the impact on our members and RSAs was certainly carefully considered during the decision-making process. The cancellation of Poppy Day was always going to have the greatest impact on our ability to provide our normal level of support to our veterans and their families. The generosity of Perpetual Guardian, its Trust and the New Zealand public through a Give A Little page raised some $315,000, all of which was dis- tributed to provide welfare support. Whilst the Give A Little funding was gener- ous, we acknowledged that it would not be enough to fully cover the probable support requirements this year. So, the Board chair, the chief executive officer and I had a meeting with the veterans minister Ron Mark to put a case for funding to assist with the provision of support for veterans. As a result of that meeting, we were allocated $2.53 million from the Covid19 fund, $2m for direct support of veterans, and $530,000 to the National Office for operational support. The cancellation of Anzac Day tore at the heart of our duty to remember those who have served. I know from the many calls and emails I received that although people supported and understood the decision, they were struggling with how they would show they remembered. Then came the Stand at Dawn initiative, a col- laborative effort from the National Office and the New Zealand Defence Force to organise an opportunity for the community of NewZealand to come together in a somewhat different, but still very appropriate way to show our support for those who have served our country and those who are still serving. Many people put displays in their windows and gardens, decorated lamp posts, letterboxes and fences. Homemade poppies were appear- ing everywhere - many seemed to have been made fromNewWorld shopping bags with the red of the bag and black liner in the bottom producing the perfect materials. So, my sincere thanks to all involved, par- ticularly the National Office and NZDF staff who worked very hard to make this initiative, a great success. Through the Covid19 lockdowns it became apparent that the need for support was even greater than normal, and this is where our sup- port personnel excelled. I also acknowledge the assistance from some of our younger veteran organisations who were quick to answer the call to assist. Phone calls, deliveries of food andmedicines were but a part of the workload they carried out, and I know our veterans were appreciative of that support. Once again, we are about to complete the packing of more than 200 Christmas parcels for service personnel serving overseas at Christmas. This is our 80th year of doing this, and we are sincerely appreciative that Foodstuff’s Pam’s brand supplied all the product and Packaging Products Limitedprovided thepackagingboxes. We must never forget we have a duty to ensure that the legacy given to us by our pre- decessors to support those who have served continues – and that load must be shared by all who display the RSA brand over their door. It concerns me deeply that some are looking for ways to shed that responsibility by avoiding paying their share of the cost. It is imperativewe all take that responsibility seriously. We must remember and care for all those impacted by military service for New Zealand. Our actions nowwill dictate the futureof theRSAmovement. National Council this year will be very differ- ent in that it will be a virtual council. However, it is important we still partake in it and step up to the challenge of showing we can adapt to new situations. We need you to contribute, participate and respect the right of everyone to be heard. Together we are strong, but we will achieve little if we cannot work towards a common goal. We all want a better and deserved outcome for our people. So, let us move forward together so that we can achieve a positive result.