At the Battle of the Somme in World War I,
a NZ colonel led a formidable attack on the German trenches that has become legendary.
With death in the air, he advanced on the enemy, despite being hit by machine-gun fire.
Shot again and again, his body shattered. He refused any help until the Germans finally surrendered.
For having inspired his men with his own contempt for danger,
this soldier was awarded the greatest military honour of them all - the Victoria Cross.
BELL TOLLS
The NZer was Lord Bernard Freyberg, and his remains are buried in the heart of the English countryside,
where today, family and friends are meeting at a special commemorative service for him.
Among the dignitaries, descendants and attendants is a visiting member of NZ's elite NZSAS -
Corporal Willie Apiata.
< You know Corporal Apiata? Valerian Freyberg. How do you do?
Like the man he has travelled so far to honour, Corporal Willie Apiata is a holder of the Victoria Cross.
I never thought I would ever see another NZer awarded one of that, so...
In just a handful of weeks, the award has propelled a soldier
used to a life of anonymity into full public view,
making him the star of the NZ military and a hero to his country.
The Victoria Cross - the result of a selfless act of bravery in the war in Afghanistan.
It was a moment long forgotten,
until just three months ago.
Captions by Able.
www.able.co.nz
Copyright Able 2016
At the headquarters of NZ Special Air Service,
the commanding officer is about to release the biggest story in the unit's history -
one he has kept secret for almost a year.
When I took over from my predecessor, he informed me of a number of issues,
and his parting shot was, 'Oh, and by the way, you might wanna keep your eye on this.'
In 2006, the colonel was handed a dossier
recommending one of his corporals receive the highest award for gallantry, and, one month ago,
the recommendation was approved by the head of the Commonwealth, the Queen.
Do you wanna get Willie?
The mana of this honour makes the story too big to hide,
so Corporal Willie Apiata must be revealed to the NZ public tomorrow.
Hey, Willie. Let's go.
A five-year veteran of this unit, Willie Apiata is oblivious to what awaits.
It's usually bad news for a corporal to be dragged into CO's office on any day, let alone a Sunday morning.
Morning, Willie. Boss.
Have a sit down.
Probably received the shock of his life in the next five minutes.
Laid out in front of Willie Apiata were three letters.
Just sorta wondering, you know, 'What the hell's going on here?'
Opened the first letter and started reading through and...
yeah, it was... I was quite speechless, actually.
Yeah. And emotional.
The Queen's representative - the Governor-General - the NZ Prime Minister and Minister of Defence
confirmed that Willie Apiata will receive the rarest of military honours,
making him one of just 12 holders of the Victoria Cross alive in the world.
Didn't really get a chance for it to sink in. I was on the way down to Wellington that afternoon.
As a Special Forces soldier, the disclosure of Corporal Willie Apiata's actions is unprecedented.
He's also the first person to receive the Victoria Cross for NZ.
FLIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT
Willie is flying by his commanding officer, his regimental sergeant major and a mentor from the unit.
In Wellington, their job is to keep Willie up close, but out of sight... until tomorrow's announcement.
It's hard enough for me, knowing, but I wasn't receiving the medal.
For Willie, it would be impossible to sit on this secret, knowing that his whole life was gonna change.
The first step in this life-changing event takes the group to an almost deserted NZ defence headquarters,
where the team responsible for overseeing tomorrow's public announcement has a long night ahead.
Hi, Clive. Gidday, how are you? >
Clive Robinson. Willie Apiata. Hi, Willie.
Clive will measure you for your uniforms and then we'll get photos.
OK. Cool. < All right.
Straight away, Willie is sent for a uniform fitting in an adjacent building.
One day, you'll have a statue like this here.
The statue of Brigadier Bernard Freyberg, VC, is a reminder to Willie of his new-found status.
Look ahead, like you would. > CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS
Great. >
Your feet touched the ground yet? >
Drop your arms by your side.
Willie gets a new uniform befitting the occasion of such an announcement.
You know, Willie's more comfortable in a pair of gumboots and a pair of old trackies or his hunting gear.
The reality of it is that, you know, that's not appropriate attire for a public event.
It's all organised.
In the evening, Willie receives an unexpected visit from the country's most senior military commander,
Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae.
From 10.30am tomorrow, you'll be wearing those.
CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS
Good luck. WHISPERS: Thank you, sir.
See you tomorrow.
Understandably nervous, Willie is the first NZ recipient of the Victoria Cross in 64 years.
You've just gotta relax.
You'll get plenty of this.
It's a fairly daunting prospect to know that you've gone from relative anonymity
to becoming a public figure for the rest of your life.
Three, two, one. Three, two, one.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
OK, you can relax.
Willie gets a crash course in how to be an overnight hero.
Willie's a very humble person by nature and not prone to saying too much.
But that doesn't cut the mustard with an announcement like this.
Then people wanna know a little bit about you and they wanna hear your story.
You're a hero.
Absolutely. Now, you might need to hear that a few more times before it starts sitting comfortably,
and you're gonna hear it a lot.
As of tomorrow, when the first radio bulletins go out, you are a NZ celebrity. >
People worldwide will be reading the Prime Minister's announcement and seeing your photo by 11am tomorrow.
That's how big, how fast it's all gonna happen. >
It's gonna take a little while to rattle round in between your ears, >
but I'm telling you now, bro, it's the absolute reality. >
It's like how you jump into the deep end of a pool and you can't really swim, eh.
And you're treading so much water trying to get back to the surface.
At midnight, the call is made to stop.
We might tell them we're there. 8am tomorrow?
For Willie, a sleepless night lies ahead, as he knows that tomorrow,
NZ will be delivered the groundbreaking news - they have a new hero.
RADIO BULLETIN MUSIC PLAYS
Good morning. Welcome to Morning Report on Radio NZ National. It's the 2nd of July...
There hasn't been much sleep for Corporal Willie Apiata
since the bombshell delivered by his commanding officer yesterday that he is to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
Today, it's NZ's turn to find out, along with his family and his unit, the NZSAS.
I'm still trying to get to grips with what I've been awarded
and the roller-coaster ride that had just started.
It's just before 8am and the NZSAS soldiers head to Defence House in preparation for the announcement.
For Willie, it's the last time he will walk in public unrecognised.
It's cast a spotlight upon us that we didn't necessarily want.
It's certainly cast a spotlight on Willie. I'm sure he would've preferred to remain anonymous.
The media briefing continues. Because so many aspects of his mission are deemed classified
or highly sensitive, there are many no-go areas for what Willie can say.
< Did you shoot anyone?
It just set boundaries for Willie, what he could say within the bounds of operational security,
what he was comfortable with, so that he had something to say.
It will be obvious that someone was trying to shoot you and your mates, and they'll want you to say it.
I'm thinking as a CO now. There are realities. We are in Afghanistan.
You know, a number of NZers might like the fact that Willie's received a VC,
and there may be some who aren't as... Enthusiastic.
...aren't as enthusiastic, and I'm very concerned about that.
Today's the big alligator. One big alligator's gonna come.
I think one of the questions will be, 'What are you feeling?' 'What does your family think?' >
Things like that. They just wanna know you first, and, I think later on, there'll be other alligators,
but with this big one, eh, it's, 'Who is Willie Apiata?'
In the offices of the Minister of Defence, aide Jeremy Seed
is putting the last touches to the press packs.
The media have been called to a special press conference by the Prime Minister, starting in an hour.
Meet me at 10.30, OK? That's out there. Nah, I'm not telling you any more. OK. Cheers, mate. See ya.
They're all running around like headless chickens- > Oh, yeah. 'What's happening?'
Meanwhile, Willie succumbs to nerves for the first time and steps out for a break.
Countdown's getting closer, Sam.
We're doing something the unit just doesn't do.
There's that public's... need and right to know. It's already been set out pretty clearly.
You know, we're not some organisation that is particularly comfortable -
feels this is necessary. We know it's a requirement as a result of the award,
but as far as I'm concerned, it's business as usual.
The moment you say SAS, it tends to draw publicity. I've never got my head around that.
We just go about our business, but SAS, by the nature of its business, is a secretive organisation,
capable of very discreet operations. And that draws public attention.
People like to know things that they're not allowed to know.
September 11, 2001.
A series of devastating attacks on US soil,
carried out by the terrorist organisation Al Qaeda, shocked the world.
Their network of training camps was traced back to Afghanistan,
where, under the fundamentalist Muslim army, the Taliban, they operated with near impunity.
Within days of 9/11, US forces were in Afghanistan and on the offensive.
Fire. BOMB EXPLODES
Their aim - to overthrow the Taliban, capture Al Qaeda operatives and their leader, Osama bin Laden,
now the most wanted man in the world.
MACHINE GUNS FIRE
GUN FIRES
Much of Afghanistan quickly fell under American control, but failure to block all escape routes
meant bin Laden and hundreds of his most hardened fighters had slipped the net.
They were now hiding in Afghanistan's remote mountain regions.
An international coalition, led by US forces, set out to track the terrorists down.
Among those in relentless pursuit was a small band of highly skilled men from NZ's SAS unit -
a member of the world's most renowned special forces.
Just hours ahead of his own press conference, Willie undergoes a dress rehearsal.
The camera's here on tripods. Everyone will sit there with their notebooks.
OK, Corporal. Can you tell us a little bit about what actually happened?
We've got it here on paper - the description of the events that led you getting this honour.
Nerves are shared by all as the Minister and Chief of Defence make final checks on the press release.
He took it remarkably well. > He seemed quite composed.
Very composed. >
And relaxed about it.
Although apparently he's had three cigarettes this morning.
< (LAUGHS)
How many people have you shot? >
That is the worst question to ask a soldier. If you wanna insult him, that's the best way to do it.
The carefully worded statement gets some last-minute revisions.
CELL PHONE RINGS Hello, Jeremy speaking. >
Adam. Adam! Yeah? >
Drop your cup of tea. This is the final statement. We're to get it in as many packs as we can.
The men from Willie's squadron gather at the unit and are the first to hear the news.
I'm disappointed to not be here in person, and the reason for that will become clear very soon.
Today, I'm speaking to you about something that, in my opinion,
is the biggest event in the history of the 1st NZ Special Air Service Group.
Hi, Jim speaking.
It's 10.30. All the boys will know. Yep.
Big burden off your shoulders now. > Oh, I know. Jeez. Crikey.
How long did you know about that? >
How long have I known about that? Yeah. 10 months - since I took command.
The wonderful thing was that I saw it in the CDF's office, and it was passed to the CDF and then to me.
Signed by the Queen, and I had a little moment myself.
So I had a small appreciation of what it would be like for him to open that letter.
He's earnt it. It's his. Doesn't matter if he wants it or not. He earnt it.
Along with Corporal Willie Apiata's VC,
the Prime Minister announces three other medals to be awarded for acts of gallantry.
Morning, everyone. We're here this morning to note that the Governor-General
< has formally announced that the Queen has approved four NZ Gallantry Awards.
As the Prime Minister delivers the news to the nation, Willie is finally allowed to call home.
Corporal Apiata becomes the first winner of the Victoria Cross for NZ
under the Royal Warrant for the NZ Gallantry Awards of 1999.
RADIO: ...the Victoria Cross is going to Corporal Bill Henry Apiata.
The Prime Minister says Corporal Apiata showed stunning courage
by carrying an injured soldier to safety while under fire.
In no time at all, the story spreads across the media.
ONE NEWS INTRODUCTION PLAYS
TV: A member of the SAS has been awarded the Victoria Cross,
making him the first NZer to receive the award since the end of the Second World War.
That's when it finally hit home, eh. Seeing it announced to the world.
Corporal Apiata displayed stunning courage and selflessness,
risking his life to save a colleague in a situation of extreme danger.
TV: That's Guyon Espiner, live.
In that small amount of time before the press conference when it was announced,
I was trying to get to grips with all the things that were happening to me.
Worried?
Until then, it had been all sort of surreal. We'd talked about it, we'd discussed how it was going to go,
but that's a whole different thing when you see yourself on the national news.
And for Willie Apiata, it's a whole different thing
when you have to front up at your own national press conference.