RSA - Napier 100yrs

The Napier Soldiers’ Club circa 1920.

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, 2572b

1916 - 2016

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Message From Mayor Bill Dalton

I

n 1916 the world, New Zealand and Napier was a very different place.

It was the middle of WWI, with no end in sight. Fighting on the Western Front in France was underway. The Battle of the Somme was yet to begin, while in Ireland a battlefield of a different kind, the Easter Uprising, was about to tear Ireland in two.

What was happening on that side of the world was affecting people here – since the first Gallipoli veterans had arrived back in the country the year before it was really beginning to dawn on people just what the consequences of war could be.

Those at home realised those who came back needed help, as did their families. It’s why, 100 years ago, Napier’s RSA was established and became the support network for the local men and women who served, and their families. That support is at the heart of what the RSA stands for.

It’s a privilege for Napier to have the oldest RSA in the country.

Beginning with WWI and stretching on through other wars and conflicts, the RSA has provided welfare and security to several generations, and through its ability to move with the times, I believe the RSA is just as relevant today, to current and future generations.

Times may have changed, and that support and care network widened to fundraising or catering for other caring organisations such as hospices, but their work still remains true to the RSA motto of ‘People Helping People’.

Long may it continue.

Kind regards

Bill Dalton MAYOR

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Craig Foss Message

A

s Minister of Veterans’ Affairs it is my privilege to provide a commemorative message for the 100th anniversary of the Napier RSA.

many other branches aspire to. It is this recognition of changing times, of the need to adapt, that will ensure the RSA continues to grow and thrive.

The success and longevity of the Napier RSA can be attributed to people — the men and women of Napier and the wider Hawke’s Bay region who have either loyally served in New Zealand’s forces or so tirelessly supported our veterans and their families.

It is fair to say that the Napier RSA sits at the very heart of the community it serves. This anniversary is an important opportunity to remember all those who risked their lives in pursuit of peace, and all those who cared for them on their return, allowing us the freedoms we continue to enjoy today.

I would like to acknowledge all staff and volunteers, throughout the generations, for helping to ensure our veterans had, and continue to have, a safe place to seek advice and support as well as socialise.

Happy anniversary, Napier RSA. Here’s to the next 100 years.

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Hon Craig Foss

Stuart Nash Message

L

ike many New Zealanders my forebears served in the armed services during the First and Second World Wars. While I profess to not knowing much about my great grandfathers First World War service record, I do know my grandfather fought at Cassino and lost his only brother on Crete and my other grandfather died of meningitis in an air force camp in New Zealand.

The point is that nearly all New Zealand families that have been here for a few generations have been touched by war.

The majority of these families also have a connection with the Returned Services Association. My grandmother was a life member of the RSA and the patron of the women’s branch in Woodville.

I have always associated the RSA with camaraderie and friendship as well as an organisation that has been staunch in its advocacy for veteran’s rights and welfare.

I am aware that it was the RSA that in 1921 successfully advocated for ANZAC day and that developed the uniform service, based on a military funeral, to keep faith with dead comrades and their grieving families. The RSA was also responsible for introducing the Dawn Service for ANZAC day in 1939.

While times have changed, the needs of returned and serving Service members haven’t. The need for a community place where a beer can be drunk, a great meal had and wonderful company enjoyed is as relevant today as it was on 28th April 1916 when the RSA was established.

I congratulate the RSA on achieving its centenary but also for continuing to provide a place where the good hard working men and women of Napier can come and relax in an atmosphere of friendship and amity.

Stuart Nash

MP for Napier

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T

he Napier’s Soldiers Club forms an important part of the history of the Napier Returned Services’ Association.

World War I wasn’t the first conflict that the citizens of Napier saw their young men enlist for. Many contingents went to fight against the Boers in the South African War in their patriotic duty to Mother England. When World War I began in 1914 New Zealand once again offered its military support to England. A Napier branch of the National Reserve was formed in February 1915. This involved citizens who were working but took part in military duties such as administration, parades and field practice. They opened a recruiting office and Soldiers’ Club rooms on 20 October 1915 at the Napier Borough Council Chambers on Marine Parade.

The Soldiers’ Club became very popular in spite of initial doubts over its success. The bulk of the work was done by Frank Moeller – the originator of the Club – and S V Wenley. Frank was the owner of the Masonic

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, 7097

Napier Soldiers’ Club Hotel, which was across the road from the Napier Council Chambers – and the Soldiers’ Club rooms. It was said that he and S V Wenley made the Soldiers’ Club their hobby.

Soldiers in the club rooms were supplied with morning and afternoon tea from the Masonic Hotel and it was reported that “Mr Moeller deals out hospitality and kindness with a lavish hand”. If soldiers could not walk to the Masonic Hotel, he would send their lunches and dinners across the road. He did this all for free. Mr Wenley’s son was serving in France, and he devoted “practically the whole of his life to the patriotic cause”. The Club was run by the men of Napier, and the “ladies have practically nothing to do with it”.

By 3 January 1916, 226 men had been recruited through the Napier Soldiers’ Club.

This number would reach just over 1,000 near the end of the year.

The rules of the Napier Soldiers’ Club created a governance structure with two committees: civilians and returned soldiers.

The demand for the Soldiers’ Club was such that a need was identified for larger permanent premises in December 2015, and

a full-time caretaker to help the few National Reserve members – mainly Frank Moeller and S V Wenley – with the work they were doing.

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Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, 7097

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Louis Hay drew up the Napier Soldiers’ Club plans at no cost.

Congratulations to the RSA celebrating 100 years of service Over the last 100 years the RSA has successfully advocated for the issues that are important to those who have served. The RSA continues to enrich and deepen the community’s understanding of the commitment and sacrifice made by our service men and women.

Proudly supporting local community events The office is open from Monday to Friday 9.00 am - 4.00 pm We are located at 155A Tennyson Street Napier or call (06) 835 6093

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The Soldiers’ Club building

hours of the appeal William Nelson of Tomoana Freezing Works was the first to donate with £25 (2015: $3,385). Frank Moeller would act as treasurer for the

fund. A section was purchased from Walter Lean for £1,000 ($135,000) in February 1916 on Marine Parade for the new Club rooms.

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, 8786

The National Reserve began an appeal for donations to build premises for the Soldiers’ Club in January 1916, and within

The dining and billiards room of the Napier Soldiers’ Club.

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When the National Reserve tried to form a society called the Napier Soldiers’ Club Incorporated they were given legal advice that the club should be kept separate from their organisation, so they followed this advice and created a structure which allowed for civilian and returned soldiers. The Napier Soldiers’ Club was incorporated later in the year on 26 October 1916.

In September 1916 Louis Hay attended the Soldiers’ Club committee meeting and told them that the building cost would be higher than expected by £320 ($43,000), and they should talk to the builder. Committee members James Coleman and Frank Moeller were given authority to negotiate the cost. The final agreed amount was not recorded.

The plans for the Soldiers’ Club building were drawn up by architect Louis Hay, who did not charge for his services.

Many activities began to raise money for the Soldiers’ Club building. In March 1916 J S Orr said he would donate £25 ($3,385) if Rule Britannia was sung in public. Four thousand people turned up to the bandstand in front of the Masonic Hotel on Marine Parade to sing, accompanied by the Napier City Band.

The building started in May 1916, after the foundation stone was laid on Anzac Day, and by November 1916 it was almost completed. The style of the building impressed many, according to the Hastings Standard, who could not believe “such a handsome structure had been built for a Soldiers’ Club”. The reporter went on to describe the building:

Many of the inside fittings were donated, such as the billiard tables (by F W Williams and J Vigor Brown) and an oak settee (by Napier Golf Club).

An advert was placed for a housekeeper, and a man for general work – with knowledge of a billiard room. The Hastings Standard in their local news column noted that the Soldiers’ Club

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, 8788

Tenders received in April 1916 for the building ranged from £3,230 ($437,000) to £3,861 ($522,650). The minutes of the Soldiers’ Club recorded “All the above tenders were considered too high.” The two lowest tenderers were approached to see if they would resubmit a tender, which they did. It appears that Louis Hay altered the plans to reflect a lower cost, and he must have done this almost immediately as the new tenders were submitted only five days after the committee met to consider the first tenders. W M Angus was the successful tenderer at £2,720 ($368,000).

It is artistic in the extreme … its red-tiled roof overhanging in places and suggestive of Italian architecture adds an additional charm to the building.

Broad steps lead to the entrance, which is given a massive aspect by the massive pillars supporting the porch. Everything is massive, and a visitor making an inspection is impressed with the solidity of all that is seen. Entrance to the social room billiard room and other main departments is by swing doors – doors that should swing for a century. The foundation stone bears the words “Honour the brave” and this building will serve to remind future generations that the brave have been honoured.

The billiards room of the Napier Soldiers’ Club.

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“wanted a man with knowledge of billiards”.

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, M54.22

The opening ceremony was on Saturday 9 December 1916. J H Coleman opened the proceedings and acknowledged Frank

Moeller, who had the idea for the club, and Louis Hay, the architect. Frank Moeller’s wife had provided almost all the furniture.

Frank Moeller then spoke, saying the building was free from debt, although ongoing maintenance costs would need

Napier Soldiers’ Club badge.

to be met. He remarked it was “one of the finest furnished clubs in the colonies, if not in the world”. Corporal W Tweedie spoke of behalf of the Returned Soldiers Association, of which he was president. Napier Mayor J Vigor Brown, said in opening the building that finance would be a key aspect of the non-combatant effort and “victory would depend on finance. If we did not win what was to become of the money of the people who were misering [not giving freely of money to the war effort] it up?”

The main objective of the Napier Soldiers’ Club, according to its revised in 1920 rule book (from the 1916 original), was to “Promote and provide a club for the use and benefit of past and present members of all His Majesty’s forces”. Membership was open to all members of His Majesty’s forces, which meant not only men who had fought in the Great War, but also territorials and those who had enlisted for active service, and members of the National Reserve who were paid-up at the date of that body›s disbandment, whether or not they had seen active service. The original 1916 membership criteria was restricted to returned soldiers, but as members began to become harder to find, this was relaxed.

The Soldiers’ Club was governed by two committees: Class A which was made up of civilians and Class B which was returned soldiers. This would, however, create problems.

Soldiers’ Clubs existed all over New Zealand. It is thought that Napier’s was the first purpose-built one opened.

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Formation of the Napier Returned Soldiers’ Association On board the ship Willochraenters, returning to Wellington from Gallipoli with the first wounded on 15 July 1915, was Captain Donald Simson (1879–1961).

He was a South African War Veteran (1899–1902), and served at Gallipoli as a field engineer, where he was wounded by a gunshot to his neck and face. On the voyage back home Donald thought about the need to form an association of returned soldiers.

Donald Simson visited Hastings on 3 March 1916 to promote a local returned soldiers’ association at the Hawke’s Bay Soldiers’ Club. He explained that returned soldiers’ associations had already been started in Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill. Donald said he was heading back to Wellington to promote the idea of a national association, but if he couldn’t raise the money there he would come back to Hawke’s Bay for it, as he knew all the wealthy men here. This was greeted with much applause. (His brother Ian Simson lived in Hastings, and was to become Hastings Mayor from 1917 to 1919.)

The next day Donald Simson visited Napier, and his idea was well-received, leading to the formation of the Napier Returned Soldiers’ Association on 19 April 1916. The first office holders were president John Vigor Brown, vice presidents Harold Latham and Frank

Donald Simson Weekly News Honour Roll, 1915

At a meeting in Wellington in January 1916 Donald explained the need for such an organisation and recalled the soldiers who had found it hard to fit into society when they returned from the South African War. He could see the present returned soldiers “getting very much in the same position as the returned soldiers in previous wars, who came to be regarded as a bit of a nuisance. The public are beginning to know the returned soldier as the man wearing an overcoat or helmet who hangs about the streets apparently with no object in life. The Government said he needed a rest, but the only rest the average returned soldier got was against a bar.”

While Donald stated he was presenting the “worst side of the picture,” he added: “I am not giving you mere idle expressions of opinion, for I have closely studied such problems arising out of the war.” His vision was for returned soldiers to be able to meet and have their interests looked after by their own, “not civilians”.

Donald Simson, founder of the RSA in New Zealand.

Moeller, secretary Sergeant E Dunn, and committee members Sergeant Newson and Corporals Towers, Morrissey and Goldfinch. John Vigor Brown, Frank Moeller and Harold Latham were already involved in the Napier Soldiers’ Club. Their first act as a committee on the day of formation was to protest to the government about the armlets given to returned soldiers, calling for a badge instead.

The Napier RSA was incorporated on 4 December 1916.

Sergeant Dunn and Corporal Towers of the Napier RSA went to Wellington to hear Donald Simson outline his plans for a National Returned Soldiers Association, which was formed on 28 April 1916 as the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association. Although local RSAs were being created around New Zealand in early 1916, the national body was formed later.

The natural home for the newly formed Napier RSA was likely the Napier Soldiers’ Club, which was then situated in the Napier Borough Council Chambers. As was proposed

by RSA founder Donald Simson, the RSAs would work closely with the Soldiers’ Clubs.

The view out to sea from the Anzac soldiers camps at Gallipoli

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A stand against prejudice

One of the services that the Napier RSA provided was to give tram and movie passes to returned soldiers. When a Ma¯ori returned soldier, Arthur Joseph, attempted to take his seat at the Gaiety Theatre in Dickens Street in late November 1916, he was refused on account of his race. Arthur was also known as Ahere Te Koari Hohepa.

He wrote to the newspaper to say:

I want to tell you and your readers how hurt I felt on Saturday afternoon. I was refused admission to upstairs of Thompson and Payne’s picture show. I was told Maoris are not permitted there. Why? Surely, Sir, if I am considered fit to stand beside my Pakeha brother in defence of our country I am also fit to sit beside him for an hour’s pleasure in a theatre that is kept by the money of the people for whom I have been risking my life.

An excuse will probably be given, but, Sir, no excuse can remove the insult that has been meted upon me. I am sufficiently educated to realise that I have been fighting for the protection of the interests of the management of Thompson and Payne’s and I look to the people of Napier and especially to my brothers, the returned Pakeha soldiers, to take up this matter. The people of England I found made no such distinction, but apparently the folk here referred to know nothing of the trials we have faced for their sakes and therefore they may notappreciate this subject coming before the public.— l am, etc., ARTHUR JOSEPH Returned Soldier.

The Napier RSA was furious upon hearing of this and issued a press statement saying that while it recognises the right of the theatre “to pick and choose its patrons, it determines to take drastic steps, if necessary to prevent a similar insult being offered to returned Maori soldiers”. To the Napier RSA a returned soldier was exactly that, and there was no racial distinction. Many defended the right of Ma¯ori to fight, with one general from the Ma¯ori land wars of the 1860s writing in to say: “I can state that in soldierly behaviour they were equal to the whites, and I am glad to know that their sons can fight like their warrior fathers did, when King and Empire call for help.” Another correspondent, with the pseudonym “Disgusted”, wrote:

Ahere had changed his name to Arthur Joseph so he could enlist to fight in the South African War, where he served with distinction. (Ma¯ori were not accepted by the British to fight among whites, but New Zealand turned a blind eye and about twenty Ma¯ori served using English versions of their names) Ahere enlisted to fight in World War I in 1914 with the 1st Maori Contingent, and was made a sergeant.

When he was sent home from France after serving in Gallipoli, with a gunshot wound to his thumb and still suffering from malaria, he was nearly forty years of age. He returned to the family farm, and passed away in 1956.

The Thompson Payne Gaiety Theatre was renamed the “Gaiety White Palace” on 2 January 1917, two months after the incident. The name was only used for four months until it was changed back to the Gaiety Theatre.

Ma¯oris are not good to sit alongside of the exclusive bluebloods upstairs, but the downstairs commonality must associate with them willy nilly. For myself, I may say I am proud to be in the company of the brave brown lads who have fought and died for me and my dear ones. They are being made much of in the Old Country by the highest in the land, but in their own native land they are treated as pariahs.

Faugh? — I am, etc., DISGUSTED.

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Our Reveille Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi

D

uring 1917, in addition to a Returned Services’ ball, a production called Our Reveille was staged by the RSA. It ran for seven nights, and promoted itself as having “electrical effects, gorgeous marches, ballets, Dutch acrobats and clog dances”. Full choruses would sing the latest songs.

The Napier RSA and the Napier Soldiers’ Club

At times the relationship between the Soldiers’ Club and the Napier RSA was strained, to say the least. At the May 1918 annual general meeting of the Napier RSA there was no hint of any trouble – their membership was 220 returned soldiers, and they had just paid £100 ($8,900) to the Napier Soldiers’ Club to allow the RSA members free use of their facilities.

The success of Our Reveille had been noted and had been a major source of

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The floor plan of the Napier Soldiers’ Club.

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The Soldiers’ Club wound up in 1930, and the building has had various uses since, including a hotel and restaurants.

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The Old Napier Borough Council offices in 2016 where the first Soldiers’ Club was, and likely the first Napier RSA office. They shifted to Byron Street in 2012. finance, which the meeting discussed was important for the RSA in the future. However, by October 1918 it seems that matters had turned sour between the Soldiers’ Club and the RSA committee, which had resulted in the RSA “holding aloof ” from the Soldiers’ Club, and leaving their office premises. G P Aldridge, who was then secretary of one of the Soldiers’ Club committees and the RSA, resigned from the Soldiers’ Club.

The Napier RSA were not happy with the appointment of Frank Moeller and John Lipscombe as secretaries of the Soldiers’ Club, who were both original members of the National Reserve which set up the Soldiers’ Club. A meeting was to take place between the Napier RSA and the members of the Soldiers’ Club civilian committee to try and come to a solution of the conflict between returned soldiers and civilian control of the club.

Four years later in 1924 the Soldiers’ Club was still struggling. A meeting was held between the Napier RSA and the Napier Soldiers Club to try and “popularise the club”. It was now only being used by a few men playing billiards. W Tweedie, who was the first president of the Napier RSA, said that the RSA had got involved in the Soldiers’ Club earlier through the B committee. They had spent a lot of time trying to get men interested in the Club.

There were two committees running the Soldiers’ Club – one civilian (A) and the other returned soldiers (B). The B committee members had all resigned.

The reason was interference from the A committee “who seemed to lose sight of the fact that the club was erected by public subscription for soldiers only”.

The Napier RSA held an extraordinary general meeting and passed a motion supporting the resignation of the returned soldiers committee. They then passed a motion of censure on the actions of the civilian committee.

The situation was sorted out by March 1920 when at the Napier Soldiers’ Club AGM it was reported that the Club was under the management of the A and B committees with a joint secretary, instead the previous arrangement where there were two secretaries. And the RSA had returned during 1919 to the Napier Soldiers’ Club. The A Committee was made up of eight members, while the B Committee had six returned soldiers.

The B committee would oversee internal management of the Club but report to the A (civilian) committee.

It was suggested a side-room in the Soldiers’ Club, which was seldom used, could be turned into the billiards room, and the present billiards room be converted into a social room where dances, concerts and card games could be played. However, as one man pointed out, the club was aimed at single returned soldiers, and they should think carefully about spending money on the club when most of the men were now getting married.

At this point the Club’s A committee decided to change the rules and admit

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territorials – those who had not actually served – to boost numbers, but this had no real effect.

The Napier RSA argued for more control of the Club as they were sure they could make it more attractive. The returned soldiers on the B committee had only met once in the past year. While some argued that the RSA should have more control, others believed they had all the control they needed as all returned soldiers could vote for men on the B committee.

One man said that there were trophies for billiards and if the men didn’t find the Club attractive enough it was their fault.

Newspaper editor Trevor Geddis said there was nothing to interest those who didn’t like billiards.

Three years later in 1927 the Soldiers’ Club began to run at a loss. Due to a “lack of interest” the club rooms

were sold to Henry Bodley on 15 July 1930, who turned them into a hotel in October 1930.

The winding up provision of the Club rules said any sale proceeds had to be allocated to certain charitable causes, so the money was given to the Hawke’s Bay War Relief Association.

The early success of the Soldiers’ Club after World War I didn’t last. Soldiers’ Clubs weren’t the only ones to struggle as the RSAs across New Zealand also experienced a dramatic drop in numbers. From 80,000 servicemen in World War I, 57,000 had joined the RSA by 1920. However membership dropped to below 7,000 by the mid-1920s. One reason given for this was that significant numbers of soldiers had successfully rehabilitated back into society and no longer needed the ongoing comradeship of their fellow servicemen.

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Their own building – Dickens Street

RSA membership saw a resurgence in the 1930s as returned soldiers struggled with the effects of the Great Depression and joined RSAs for support and the welfare distributions from Poppy Day. A large influx of members also occurred during and immediately after World War II. 1941 saw a national name change to Returned Services Association, to include all three branches of the armed forces.

By 1946 the Napier RSA had moved to the old Foresters Building in Dickens Street, and they purchased the building and the adjoining section for use as a car park. Ron Spriggs, who was a member of the Ancient Order of Foresters, a returned soldier, and a past mayor of Napier, suggested the purchase to the Napier RSA. The large area on the top floor of the RSA building was used to hold regular Saturday night ballroom dances, which were a good income earner – in fact they provided over half of the revenue. It appears many of the RSA members were unhappy with this arrangement, and one committee member commented: “Their outlook on the club seemed to be centred on beer.” In order to get around the strict liquor laws of the time, a locker system was used, with the full knowledge of the local police. Members would pay “rent” for a locker, and their alcohol order would be placed inside. There were 110 such lockers and they could not be used while the dances were held, hence the dissatisfaction of many members.

Sundays were also off limits for the lockers, and alcohol could not be taken out of the premises. At the end of 1946, after more complaints about the lockers being closed during dances, it was decided to restrict the dances over the Christmas/New Year period to three a week.

Problems did occur with alcohol occasionally, such as in December 1946 when a group of young seamen entered the club and were trying to buy bottles of beer from members for £1 (2015: $80). Members were spilling out of the locker rooms and into the lounge, and one committee member thought it most inappropriate that women were drinking in the lounge. The solution was to lock the door between the locker room and the lounge to stop this occurring. With the liquor laws and six o’clock closing in force it was difficult to run a successful club as arrangements had to be made to either stop drinking at all when dances were on, or restrict where they could drink at other times.

Napier RSA

A

fter the Napier Soldiers’ Club rooms were sold in July 1930, it is unclear where the Napier RSA office immediately went. The Napier street directory of 1932 still showed the Soldiers’ Club and the Napier RSA at the Marine Parade address, but it was in use as a hotel at that point. Sometime in the 1930s a Returned Services Club under the control of the Napier RSA was established in Briasco’s building called Londontoun in Emerson Street. It contained billiard tables, which were likely the two that were originally donated to the Soldiers’ Club.

The old Education Board Offices in 1991.

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In May 1947 some World War II servicemen felt that the Napier RSA was “too impersonal” and that they desired more contact with the Napier RSA as they only time they knew what was happening with activities was the annual general meeting. The committee believed that the returned soldiers from World War II needed more support than the World War I soldiers, and that the RSA should see it as their function to bring the members together socially.

A charter was given to the Napier RSA in 1958, which applied to “a voluntary association of persons combined for promoting the common object of private social intercourse, convenience, and comfort and providing its own liquor, and not for the purpose of gain”. This meant the locker system would no longer be needed.

In 1963 the Napier RSA received its liquor licence, which meant it could sell liquor over the counter. Alterations were made to the top floor of the building to accommodate this.

Land was purchased in 1972 at Onekawa for a new Napier RSA building but the plan for new premises was decided to be too expensive.

The 1970s saw RSAs around the country lose the majority of their World War I members, and this required some changes to boost membership. Therefore in 1976 armed forces personnel who did not serve overseas could join. “House members” were also admitted – these were spouses or surviving spouses of members, or their children or grandchildren.

The finances of the Napier RSA were sound, and by 1988 they were debt free.

An opportunity came up in 1991 to move to new premises in Vautier Street.

Vautier Street

Daily Telegraph

The Hawke’s Bay Education Offices in Vautier Street Hastings came up for sale in 1991, and the Napier RSA and Mr and Mrs Ted Laxton each bought a half-share in the property. Extensive alterations were required to create a lounge area, a separate restaurant, conference rooms, and offices and committee rooms upstairs. The new premises opened on 21 December 1991.

The foyer of the Education Board office.

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In 1996 the Napier RSA purchased the other half of the property from the Laxton’s. However, this caused considerable financial strain. During the 1995/96 year the RSA made a loss, and careful financial management was needed. Thankfully 1997 saw a return to profit.

Congratulations to the RSA on 100 years of service from

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The main ground floor area when it was used as offices for the Education Board.

Napier RSA

Napier RSA

The renovations begin to fit out the building for the Napier RSA.

The RSA buildings in Dickens Street – their home from 1946 until 1991.

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20

Anzac Day

W

hen the Australian Imperial and New Zealand Expeditionary forces arrived in Egypt in December 1914, they were placed under the command of Lieutenant General William Birdwood. They were to be combined and called the Australasian Corps, but the New Zealanders objected and wanted their identity more strongly reflected. The new name assigned was the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, abbreviated as A & NZ Army Corps. It is thought a clerk in General Birdwood’s office later shortened this to Anzac, and by the time of the Gallipoli landings on 25 April 1915 the abbreviation was commonly used in army communications.

In February 1916, Australia began discussions about commemorating the war dead at Gallipoli on the day of the landings – 25 April – and the New Zealand Parliament discussed in March 1916 that it would be appropriate to set aside a halfday public holiday for this purpose from 1pm. Civic leaders around the country were asked to take a prominent role in organising services where all churches could participate in what the government wished to be a solemn occasion. Controversy erupted immediately when many church leaders refused to take part in a combined service with other denominations they disagreed with doctrinally. The Anglican Bishop of Waiapu in Hawke’s Bay was one who objected, and his decision was related to his understanding of how Catholic and Protestant services were being organised during the war, as Anglicans were apparently

coerced to take part in Catholic-led activities at times. The lack of clerical cooperation led to an outcry from the general public and criticism of the clergy.

At the time of Anzac Day service in April 1916 the Napier RSA was only six days old, and appears to have had little or no involvement. With the half-day holiday passed into law, plans were made by civic leaders around Hawke’s Bay for the commemorations. Napier’s ceremony (pictured) began with a parade and ended at the band rotunda on Marine Parade.

Mayor J Vigor Brown spoke first, then two retired military men. Anglican Canon Frank Mayne of St John’s Cathedral did take part in the Napier ANZAC commemoration with other church leaders, but they all spoke briefly and the proceedings didn’t take the form of a church service. Canon Mayne later questioned the Bishop of Waiapu’s decision to not to allow his clergy, of which he was one, to take part in the Anzac Day church service.

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, 1654

Due to the heroic actions of both Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, the term Anzac came to identify an Australian or New Zealand soldier who had fought there, and was later applied to soldiers in other World War I conflicts (and used

on some occasions during World War II and Vietnam).

The first Anzac Day in Napier, 25 April 1916. The Napier RSA was just six days old then.

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After the ceremony the proceedings moved to the planned site for the Napier Soldiers’ Club on Marine Parade, and a foundation stone was laid by the Mayor.

In 1917 the Napier RSA, like many other RSAs around New Zealand, was concerned about the government’s suggestion to commemorate Anzac Day on 23 April due to local body elections on 25 April – which had been planned before Anzac Day was in existence. The Napier RSA was adamant that the only Anzac Day service their men would participate in in would be on 25 April. The election date could not be changed, but after a large deputation visited Napier Mayor J Vigor Brown he declared a holiday so Anzac Day was still observed on 25 April. On Anzac Day 560 marchers, from returned soldiers to boy scouts, filled the length of Byron Street as they headed to the Napier Municipal Theatre, led by the Napier City Band, for the service. The service took on a religious tone and was mostly led by Reverend A Hodge, but other members of the United Association such as Reverends J Boyce, J A Asher and G

Menzies took part, as well as army chaplain T Richards. This did not include Roman Catholics, and it would be some fifty years

before Catholics joined Protestants in Anzac Day commemoration services. Others in the official party were mayor J Vigor Brown,

The foundation stone of the Napier Soldiers’ Club, laid 25 April 1916.

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military officials and some of the local body election candidates.

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, W224 (d)

Later that night the Napier Soldiers’ Club held a function where they invited the Napier Ministers Association to hold a halfhour service. A separate service was held there for the Roman Catholics. After the services the men had dinner at the Club, at their own expense.

Many RSAs wanted 25 April to be a sacred day or holy day to remember the Anzacs.

When the Wellington RSA in 1919 wanted the government to make Anzac Day fall on a Sunday closest to 25 April, the Napier RSA protested against this at the national conference, instead wanting the actual Anzac Day to be declared a statutory holiday. In 1922 the government made Anzac Day a full public holiday.

An Anzac Day parade in the 1940s on Marine Parade.

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The Anzac Day dawn service was adopted widely in 1939, after some Australian veterans attended such a service in Sydney the previous year. The dawn service signifies the time on 25 April 1915 when the first landings occurred at Gallipoli.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s there was significant disruption to Anzac Day services, which were used to stage anti-war protests, especially in regards to the Vietnam war.

Today’s Anzac Day services still contain the origins of over 100 years ago, including the parade of returned soldiers, sounding of the last post, a minute’s silence, and an address and laying of a wreath.

These words of Laurence Binyon For the Fallen are read at a typical Anzac Day service: They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.

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F

ield Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery (1887–1976) (Monty) famed commander of the British Eight Army during World War II. After the war in 1946 he was given the title of 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, and this was the title he assumed when he toured New Zealand between 16 and 31 July 1947, and he was in the true sense of the word a war hero.

Before embarking a tour around New Zealand Monty addressed the New Zealand parliament, and paid great compliments to the New Zealand troops by saying “It was my very great honour to have under me the fighting men and women of New Zealand.

Of all the fighting men who served under me, and a great many did with the exception of the Russians whom I never had the honour to command, none were finer, more splendid or more gallant than those led by my old and trusted comrade in arms, Bernard Freyberg.”

He went on to say “History has taught us that evil men arrive in the world from time-to-

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi, W471

Monty time, seize power and try to exert their will by force. Hitler was such a man.”

Monty came to Hawke’s Bay by airplane landing at the Beacons Aerodrome on 26th July at 9.55am. His trip was organised by the Hastings and Napier RSAs. He first visited Hastings attending a public function at the racecourse. Then it was Napier’s turn to host Monty under his hosts the Napier RSA, with the reception being held at the Sound Shell.

Upon getting up to speak he said “Napier is a very beautiful city. It’s the sort of place that when I retire I would like to settle down in”.

After the formality of speeches, Monty was driven to the Napier RSA for a civic luncheon in Dickens Street with crowds lining the streets to get a glimpse of him. There were 150 present at the lunch. The Napier RSA had two tickets available for the lunch due to non-acceptances, and it was decided at the committee meeting to give them to a returned nurse and a disabled soldier. Two toasts would

Bernard Montgomery (Monty) salutes the crowd while on parade in Napier. be given – one to the king and the other to Monty. In the end only one toast was made

by Mr E H T Dunn, president of the Napier RSA, and that was to the king. No speeches were made. A gift of a round table comprised on native New Zealand wood was presented to Monty form the Napier RSA on behalf of all the returned men. Dignitaries from both Hastings and Napier attended the lunch.

Musical items accompanied Monty’s departure from the Napier RSA where he left for the aerodrome to fly to Gisborne. Many that day had had a sense of seeing a true war hero.

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24

Poppy Day

T

poppies blow. Between the crosses row on row.”

In November 1918 Moina Michael, a humanitarian professor in the USA, was inspired by McCrae’s poem, particularly the closing lines: To you, from failing hands, we throw The torch: be yours to hold it high If ye break faith with us who die, We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

She wrote a poem in response, We Shall Keep the Faith, and pledged to wear a

Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Ta¯-u¯-rangi

he adoption of the poppy as a remembrance symbol for the fallen soldiers of World War I originated with a poem written

by Canadian medical officer John McCrae. While conducting a funeral for a fellow soldier and close friend in May 1915, he saw red poppies among the crosses in the cemetery. This image moved him to write In Flanders Fields.

He actually threw it away, not being happy with it, but it was retrieved by a fellow officer who managed to get it published in Punch magazine. The first two lines read: “In Flanders fields the

A New Zealand-made 1950 poppy

poppy to show she was “keeping the faith”. She became known as The Poppy Lady through her campaigning for the poppy as an emblem to remember the fallen.

The American Legion in 1920 adopted the poppy as their official symbol of remembrance at their convention. A Frenchwoman attending on behalf of the French YMCA, Anna Guerin, thought artificial poppies could be made and sold to benefit French widows and orphans of World War I. Anna founded the French Children’s League, which paid war widows and orphans to make replica poppies out of cloth. She planned to promote the idea of the poppy as a remembrance symbol to the World War I Allies of America, Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. During 1921 Anna or her representatives visited these countries.

While she visited Australia, Anna sent Colonel Samuel Alexander Moffat over to New Zealand. He arrived in September and convinced the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association (NZRSA) to adopt the red poppy as a memorial emblem.

Colonel Moffat extended an invitation to the NZRSA to wear the poppy at Armistice Day (11 November) that year. All of the other allied countries also adopted the poppy for Armistice Day in 1921. The poppies did not reach New Zealand in time to be promoted for Armistice Day, as the ship carrying them was held up in Melbourne. Therefore the NZRSA approved the idea of selling poppies on the day before Anzac Day, 24 April 1922 (The poppies could not be sold on Anzac day itself, as it was “like a holy day”.)

The proceeds of Poppy Day would be shared between the French Children’s League and New Zealand unemployed returned servicemen. Many volunteers stood on streets all over New Zealand selling the poppies – small for a shilling (2015: $5) each and larger ones at two shillings ($10). Poppy Day in 1922 sold 245,059 small poppies and 15,157 large poppies, with £3,695 ($356,000) going to the French Children’s League and £13,166 ($1.26 million) going to unemployed returned servicemen.

The Napier RSA raised £219 ($20,160) from Poppy Day, but also had shopping

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With the contract with the French Children’s League coming to a close in 1927, and difficulties with supply of poppies from them, the NZRSA looked at the example of the British Legion, an organisation set up by Earl Haig for British servicemen who were now making their own poppies and had raised £300,000 ($28 million). In 1928 the NZRSA purchased poppies from the French Children’s League and from the British Legion’s poppy factory, but the next year they were all purchased from the British Legion. After Earl Haig’s death in 1928, the link to the British Legion could have been more than just poppies when the New Plymouth RSA proposed in 1930 that the NZRSA change its name to the British Legion (while remaining autonomous) – but the idea was not supported.

In October 1930 it was decided that poppies would be made in New Zealand

to provide employment for disabled returned soldiers. Auckland and Christchurch RSAs would make the poppies for April 1931.

Christchurch eventually was the only supplier of poppies by 1978, and that year changed to Earl Haig’s flat design, which is still used. When the contract was taken away from the Christchurch RSA in 2010 to save money, this resulted in much controversy when Chinese-made poppies made their appearance in 2012. However, in 2015 the contract was given back to the Christchurch RSA. The Napier RSA has a trust called the RSA Poppy Charitable Trust, and this is where the funds from Poppy Day each year are deposited. All of these funds are dedicated to go to the benefit of returned service personnel and their families.

The fund is not a huge pool of money, said Chief Executive Craig Williams, but it is enough to offer assistance in part-payments for needs such as lawn mowing, gardening, hearing aids and food.

Michael Fowler

day proceeds of £70 ($6,400) and their ball funds of £220 ($20,200). These amounts were matched dollar-for-dollar by the Napier Borough Council and the Hawke’s Bay Harbour Board.

Earl Haig’s flat poppy design, used in New Zealand since 1978.

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We are thankful for the constant support from the Napier RSA for our old boys and their families and the long and proud history that unites us.

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26

Tin Hat Club

T

services of May McDonald as director; she was well-known in theatre circles. Musician Ernie Rouse and his orchestra also gave a polish to the music. As a publicity stunt, the Top Hatters paraded down Emerson Street on the night of Friday 22 April. In addition to massed bands, trick cyclists, marching girls and the fire brigade, there were the Tin Hat “marching girls” who were ex-servicemen dressed up in skirts, and two very flamboyant ones were brothers Bill and Jack Dallimore, both well-known rugby personalities. The band (as pictured) dressed as Egyptians.

Their first revue, Off the Beam was presented on 25 and 26 April 1960. The “Tin Hatters”, as they were known, secured the

May McDonald was very excited about the production, and said she “has never found such enthusiasm in a cast.

The atmosphere of the show will bring a nostalgic sigh to many of the exServicemen of both World Wars, and especially those whose memories carry them to lighter side of war days and of nights on leave in a dear old English Pub.” Forty-five cast members would take part, including ten girls to sing in choruses in the bar room scenes. Some of the ex-servicemen, such as Bill Dallimore, had performed with the Napier Frivolity Minstrels before the war, and also taken part in camp concerts during the war.

Both performances at the Napier Municipal Theatre sold out. As probably was expected, Bill Dallimore was the stand-out performer.

He was present on stage for most of the

Napier RSA

he first Tin Hat Club began in Wellington in 1933, and was a social club of ex-servicemen from World War I who held social gatherings called Tattoos and put on concert parties in the Wellington Town Hall. Napier RSA’s Tin Hat Club was formed in 1959 with Nolan Raffery as president. Membership of the Tin Hat Club was restricted to ex-servicemen who were members of the Napier RSA or an association affiliated with the RSA. Occasionally the committee would make an exception and approve someone else as a member.

A Tin Hat actor performs.

Napier RSA

27

Napier RSA

Off the Beam was the ďŹ rst revue performed by the Tin Hat Club in 1960.

There was a Hawaiian theme for this Tin Hat production.

28

show, and although his lines comprised fewer than fifty words his facial expressions and deadpan humour made him a favourite with the audience. Many well-known songs from both Wars were sung. The role of a cantankerous Sergeant Major didn’t escape some ridicule, and grown men performing as ballerinas in The Tinhatvansky Ballet was greeted with gasps and much laughter by the audience. The programme said it was the first and possibly the last time they would perform. It wasn’t a perfect performance, wrote the Daily Telegraph theatre critic, but the cast “maintained a cheerfulness which more than compensated for any lack of mature or more professional presentation and poise”. Proceeds from the show would go to the welfare of ex-servicemen.

Napier RSA

The Tin Hat Club’s revue travelled to perform shows in Rotorua (1966) and Taupo (1967).

Cop this Lot – the final revue at the Tin Hat Club.

The Top Hat Club put on eight major revues, with the last show staged being Cop the Lot in 1967, which was generally thought to be the best of them all. The reason given for ending the productions was the ageing of the returned servicemen in the cast, and the changing views of Anzac Day. During the late 1960s the Vietnam War had created a strong anti-war feeling, and Anzac Day in New Zealand had turned into a vehicle for protest rather than commemoration. Many servicemen in the Top Hat Club would have found it inappropriate to produce on a lighthearted revue of war against a “backdrop” of anti-war sentiment and protest.

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29

The RSA legacy Trust

T

Health Board has formed a partnership with the Trust, and will be involved at all stages, using their highly acclaimed Incubator and Turuki programmes. This will give the scholarships a platform from which to begin almost immediately and to sustain them into the future.

Ron Rowe, the Napier RSA member who came up with the idea for the trust, received advice and support from Russell Wills, a consultant paediatrician and Children’s Commissioner. The Hawke’s Bay District

The Trust, with the Hawke’s Bay DHB team, will identify young people at intermediate and secondary schools, and start to mentor them. This will continue to tertiary study level, with a scholarship to

progress in the health and social services professions. The student will return to their community in Hawke’s Bay to serve as a role model.

In early 2016 a lottery was launched to kick start fundraising for the Trust, to be augmented through a major fundraising programme which will eventually finance the scholarships. Perhaps the next breakthrough medical scientist is right here in The Bay – and may realise their potential through this partnership.

Paul Taylor, Hawke’s Bay Today

o commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Napier RSA, a trust was launched to identify, mentor and fund young students who have been disadvantaged by their life circumstances, and to assist them into a health or a social service career.

RSA member Ron Rowe and Rob Townsend of Napier Hyundai hand over the prizes of three new Hyundai cars to winners of the lottery to kick start the Educational Trust.

COME CELEBRATE WITH US

NAPIER

100 YEARS

Cnr Hastings & Vautier Streets, Napier Napier Members, Guests of Members & Affiliates Welcome www.rsanapier.co.nz | Phone 835 7629

30

Napier RSA Today

S

ome may have visited an RSA and have a memory of old men in trench coats sipping beer in a smoke-filled room while swapping war stories, to the accompaniment of the clicking of snooker balls. Many may still think that is what an RSA is like. But not now at the Napier RSA. Chief Executive Craig Williams refers to this as the “leaner culture”, when many RSA clubs were about “standing around the leaner, throwing darts and playing snooker”. He acknowledges that the prevailing view would have been accurate in years gone by: “In the past many clubs were reliant on alcohol sales, and now we are not and it’s not our core business by any shape or form.” In fact the Napier RSA has around forty-seven different activities or events that take place every month, including aerobics, line dancing, trivial pursuit and a group of grandparents who are full-time carers for their grandchildren.

Craig says he wants to create an atmosphere where the RSA engages a wider demographic of people “where they feel that they don’t actually have to purchase alcohol. We are actually more about food, which is our biggest income earner over beverages. A family can get affordable food of a good quality at the RSA.” Craig has been at the helm of the Napier RSA since 1997, and has overseen a change in the club, which “ebbs and flows” between 3,300 and 3,400 members. Around 80% of the club are associate members – non-service personnel who have not engaged in any war activities or

peacetime corp.These range from normal citizens to business people.The other 20% or so are made up of armed service personnel.There are only a few members left who fought in World War II, as well as Korean and Vietnam veterans.The Korean veterans meet once a month. Members of the New Zealand Police are now able to join without paying a sub while they are in the force.

Craig and his team want to make the Napier RSA family focused.The traditional RSAs after World Wars I and II served a completely different purpose as they were dedicated to supporting the surviving servicemen. But with the passage of time, and the last major conflict ending seventy-one years ago, the Napier RSA needed to “have its doors wide open and be welcoming for a broad section of the community”.The Napier RSA has had some difficult times – as have many clubs, as diminishing alcohol sales and competing forms of hospitality impacted on their business. In 2006 a merger was discussed between the Napier Cosmopolitan Club and the Napier RSA.The merger was close to occurring but failed at a late stage of negotiations.The Napier Cosmopolitan Club sold their building in 2012 and merged with the Taradale Club. Craig believes New Zealand is “over clubbed”, and further rationalisation will likely occur, alongside a continued move away from a reliance on alcohol.

The Napier RSA is moving towards an even broader range of activities and expanding its conference room to accommodate around 180

people, in the process becoming more of a community organisation. While this is a change to ensure its survival, the traditional caring for its veterans, and now associate members will continue. “While we are an evolving community club, we won’t lose the RSA umbrella, and the affiliation to the Royal New Zealand RSA will always be part of us,” said Craig. The club has two welfare officers who help veterans and their families with their entitlements from Veterans Affairs, and a volunteer support committee which visits the sick and infirm.

As the Napier RSA moves into its next 100 years, it will continue to evolve to meet the needs of a changing community, but will not lose sight of the reason it was formed – to care and look after the people who put their trust in the RSA. Lest we forget.

Editorial sourced and written by noted local historian Michael Fowler. © Michael Fowler This material is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder. Infringers of copyright may find themselves liable for prosecution.

Did you know?

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See the Bar Staff or Reception for more details. *Offer available to persons over the age of 18 years.

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31

Craig Williams, John Purcell and Ron Rowe, Napier RSA organising committee for the 100 Years celebrations

ANZAC Day Services Monday 25th April 2016

Dawn Service 6am Marine Parade (Sound Shell) Napier 5.40am Assemble CNR Browning Street & Marine Parade 5.50am Step off and march to Sound Shell 6.00am Formal Ceremony begins 6.30am Nibbles, light refreshments at the Napier RSA Clubroom Church Service Eskdale - 9.00am Service at Eskdale Church

Civic Ceremony 10.45am Assemble ‘Pitt Stop’ Shop Tennyson Street 10.55am Step off and matrch to Memorial Square 11.00am Civic Ceremony begins 12.00am Light Refreshments at the Napier RSA Clubrooms These services are in association with the Napier RSA.

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