Mayor's Speech - Launch of Book 'The Olympian Soldier'

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming along today for this special book launch. I was delighted to be asked to play a part today.

Many of us probably know stories which from time to time we think might make an interesting book. Then most of us do nothing about it.

But Kath Beatson did do something about it. And the result is The Olympian Soldier, a tribute to her brother George Cooke, Olympic rower and one of the nearly 1000 Kiwis who died fighting in Greece and Crete.

It is part family history, peppered with a little sister's stories of growing up in Wellington and rich with memorabilia from the family archive.

It is part sporting history, following George from the Star Boating Club in Wellington, to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics - and even to the wartime River Nile, where he rowed in 1940.

It is part social history, with its tales of a Wellington family's experiences before, during and after the Second World War.

And it is, of course, military history. Newspaper articles and maps help tell the story as George volunteered for the Army, was shipped to North Africa then fought in Greece before dying in the heroic, doomed defence of Crete in 1941.

A Greek tragedy written in the blood of men, as one commentator put it.

Kath can't be here today as she is in Nelson Hospital after a fall. That's a great shame and I'm sure everyone here will join me in wishing her a speedy recovery.

Many great works have been written about the Second World War. But books like Kath's bring home the fact that wars aren't just about armies, tactics and strategy.

The soldiers were men, with little sisters who loved them and homes in streets we still walk down today.

Much of The Olympian Soldier is in George's own words - for example in the letters he sent home after, he explains, he and his comrades decided to stop going sightseeing in Cairo one night a week to make time for letter-writing.

George's journey ended in May 1941, two days after he was mortally wounded. He is buried in a small military cemetery, alongside other Kiwis, near the village of Galatas. He was 35 years old.

He was the only Olympian killed on active service in the Second World War.

Before the 2004 Athens Olympics there was a service of remembrance at the Phaleron War Cemetery, where George's name is among those inscribed on a marble memorial.

Leading the tributes, our Olympic legend Sir Murray Halberg said: "It is clear he was a brave man; clear he had a passion for sport; clear he took his discipline from sport to the battle for freedom and democracy in this land.

"It is clear he had a zest for living; clear he was a resourceful man. How best to describe George Cooke requires just one word - Olympian."

Next month we will be remembering all those who have died in war. Crete was, perhaps, the Gallipoli of the Second World War, with men - Kiwis, Wellingtonians - fighting heroically and dying in what was perhaps a lost cause.

We will not, and cannot, forget them. It's good to see younger generations of Kath and George's family represented here today, people for whom this book holds far more than dusty old war stories.

Books like Kath's will ensure that the great phrases of remembrance, like ‘Lest we forget' and ‘We will remember them' will continue to resonate down the generations. Thank you.

The speech delivered may vary from this text.

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Mayor's Office