Welcome Sweet Peace: Returning home after the Great War
Peace Day in Christchurch
Photographer unknown, Peace Celebrations After World War I, Cathedral Square, Christchurch, July 1919, Black and white original negative, Photographic Archive, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/1-008739-G
Peace Day in Christchurch
The signing of the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris Peace Conference on 28 June 1919 officially brought an end to the Great War. Communities celebrated the return to peace with well-attended church services.
In many cases these were then followed by daylight and torchlight processions of returned service personnel, Red Cross workers, Patriotic Leagues, and other voluntary organisations.
In Christchurch, large crowds gathered at the city's King Edward Barracks before marching to Cathedral Square. The Christchurch Press estimated that 15-20,000 people were in attendance. In nearby Hagley Park, a 21-guns salute was sounded to commemorate the lives lost during the conflict.
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image
