Service to remember NZ soldiers who liberated town

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Le Quesnoy 1. Wide shot sunset 2. Various shots of the town 3. Close up New Zealand memorial sign (memorial to New Zealand forces who liberated Le Quesnoy in WW1) 4. Wide shot of Le Quesnoy ramparts 5. Pan from ramparts to war memorial 6. Pan down plaque on tribute Beaudignies 7. Pan from town hall to plaque with Blyth's name (town square named after Lt Colonel Blyth) 8. Wide interior of St. Etienne, Church of Beaudignies, memorial service for Lt Colonel Blyth 9. Close up Margaret Blyth, daughter of late Lt Colonel Blyth 10. Various church bells ringing New Zealand national anthem 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Margaret Blyth, daughter of late Lawrence "curly" Blyth: "I've come to honour him and especially the people here in Le Quesnoy and Beaudignies who honour him. I felt that I wanted to be a part of it, and I've done it for him more than anything else. I would be have been most unhappy if I hadn't have been here and I'm sure he would be very pleased that I am here, to be part of it, as a sort of a last farewell to him really." 12. Blyth talking to locals 13. Various war veterans in the church 14. SOUNDBITE (English) Margaret Blyth, daughter of late Lawrence "Curly" Blyth "Here was a men in their midst who actually fought, who he was one of the liberators, and he was the last liberator, and that's the sad part about it now, not only is it a great personal loss to me, but it is a loss to these people because they have no longer contact with a men who was one of the liberators." 15. SOUNDBITE (English): Raymonde Dramez, Mayor of Beaudignies "Colonel Blyth is very special to the people from the village and the nearby town of Le Quesnoy, because he liberated this village and Le Quesnoy from the German occupation and nobody will forget that. They've loved him" 16. Various church service STORYLINE: Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence "Curly" Blyth, a World War One veteran from New Zealand who died in October at the age of 105, was a last living link with a battle to liberate the small French town of Le Quesnoy from Germans. On Sunday Le Quesnoy will mark the 83rd anniversary of the liberation. Colonel Blyth was a member of a New Zealand rifle brigade involved in the last official battle of the war. He and his men scaled the ramparts of the city to defeat the German soldiers, who refused to surrender. 93 New Zealanders were killed in the battle. A day before the Le Quesnoy battle, Colonel Blyth and his men managed to sleep in the nearby village of Beaudignies, which was still occupied at the time. They liberated Beaudignies at a later time. On Saturday, in a local church, villagers paid a last tribute to the their hero. Among the villagers and war veterans was also Blyth's daughter, Margaret, who had come to commemorate her father just a few weeks after he died. Margaret Blyth, the local mayor, the New Zealand Ambassador to France and a few hundred others will attend the main memorial ceremony in Le Quesnoy on Sunday. Afterwards, at the Town Hall, Curly's daughter will be awarded a special plaque in memory of her father. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1f219ad053bf32d6edd6ffca17a84ad1 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork