Feature - ANZAC - Apr 2018

anzac day april 25

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Pre-War Europe 2

1907 The Triple Entente is agreed between Great Britain, France and Russia as German militarism becomes a concern

1912 Formation of the Balkan League, a military alliance against the Ottoman Empire

1908 Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina causing tension with Serbia

Ashburton Guardian

Saturday, April 21, 2018

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

The not-so-sweet mem Memories of World War One can now only be gathered from books, film clips and family archives, but for many people living in the Ashburton District, memories from World War Two are still very much alive. The number of WWII veterans who can speak about their years of service are dwindling but, for many still living, that war marked their childhood and memories of that time are still fresh. Several residents of Coldstream House shared those memories with reporter Sue Newman.

Betty Gear

Mary Gear

Betty Gear was nine when World War Two broke out, 15 when it ended.

As a young girl living in the heart of London, air raids, bombed out buildings and the death of friends and family were part of her growing years and today, those memories are still raw.

“It was absolutely terrifying for a little girl. As children we couldn’t really understand what was happening and why it was happening,” she said.

Her family lived in densely populated Greenwich where bombing was constant. Her life was lived between her house and the air raid shelter in the back yard.

“The government dug the shelter in our garden, it was an Anderson shelter with corrugated iron. We used to have seven people in this tiny space and you couldn’t sleep because the bombing was so loud. You couldn’t hear

yourself speak let alone sleep.”

And each time the family ran to their garden bomb shelter, their loyal dog waited, refusing to enter until each family member was safely inside.

Betty’s family counted themselves lucky, their house wasn’t destroyed but it lost its roof and its windows. The roof was replaced by tarpaulin and the windows were boarded up. No point in replacing either as they were likely to be destroyed in the next air raid, she said.

“We lived in almost complete darkness.”

Like thousands of families, Betty’s considered letting their daughter join the vast evacuation of children from London to the country. She refused, saying she wanted to stay with her family, regardless of the risk.

“A lot of children didn’t want to go and for those of us who did

stay, some of the schools were kept open for us. It used to be announced at school at assembly that the school was very sorry to say that such and such had been killed. That happened so often.”

Remaining in London, however came at a cost. People lived on edge, always waiting for the next air raid siren to sound, but the toughest issue was rationing, she said.

“Those rations were very strict.

We had half an ounce of butter per person, per week and very little meat. We did have fish.”

Betty recalls the huge bombs that fell and the devastation to large areas of London and she recalls the incendiary bombs that the children dubbed buzz bombs.

“They’d come screaming in. I can still hear them. You never saw hysteria, but when the war came people who were really quite reserved, talked to one another a lot

more, they asked each other what it was like for them the night before.”

When the news came that the war had ended, Betty said there was music and dancing in the street and after so many sombre years, that was wonderful for children to see.

The war might have been over, but the reminders of those years remained for many years in the shape of shattered buildings and the heartbreak of so many deaths, Betty said.

“So many homes were destroyed, so if you had somewhere to put a bed in your house you would put one, so you could take people in after the war.”

Her family was lucky, they all survived, but the war changed people in many ways, Betty said.

“All my growing up was done during the war really, going in and

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The Ashburton RSA and the Ashburton Rotary Club would like to sincerely thank The Ashburton Guardian would also like to thank all the businesses involved in raising funds for the Poppy Welfare

1914

Jul 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia Jun 28 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo

Aug 3 Germany declares war on France Aug 4 Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares war on Germany

Aug 1 Germany declares war on Russia

Saturday, April 21, 2018

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

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ories of World War out of our corrugated iron shelter.

This was my youth really. The war shaped who you became and I still dream about the war sometimes.”

Betty and her husband moved to New Zealand a few years ago, where he worked as an Anglican minister.

ages were still felt.

“I was able to buy a wedding dress, but there was not much choice, like there was none,” she said.

Mary Ward

Cath Bassett Cath Bassett counts herself lucky that, as a country child on a remote West Coast dairy farm, food was never really in short supply during the war.

The family ate what they grew, but like the rest of New Zealand, they were on butter rations.

“The slogan was butter for Britain. And sugar was rationed too,” she said.

But in many ways, living in Taramakau, Cath said, she was sheltered from the worst impacts of the war. Her brothers, as farmers, were exempt from war service, but the war was ever present, at home and at school.

“My father served in World War One but he didn’t talk about it much. That war had a terrible impact on the men and they said

Cath Bassett there would never be another war after World War One, but look what happened,” Cath said.

When the war ended, shortages of many goods continued because of the huge effort New Zealand made to send food and goods to Britain.

“You had to put your name down to get blankets. I was lucky, I got a pair but those shortages lasted for a long time so we just had to wait for things. So much went to Britain during the war and to the troops,” she said.

Betty and Ralph married in 1951, but even then the post-war short-

As a six-year-old when World War Two broke out Mary Ward has many memories of those war years, but for her the real impact of those years came through the experiences of her husband, Lester.

“I remember my brother Norman was in the tank company and I remember him coming home on leave and hearing all the things he did in camp and then I remember coming home one day and my mother was crying. She said “Norman’s going away overseas.”

Norman was fortunate, he came home and Mary recalls trains coming into the station, soldiers leaning out windows waving and families lined up waiting to be reunited with family members they may not have seen for six years.

When Mary was 18 she met Lester and they married in 1953. If her war memories were scant, for Lester, who was seven years older, those memories were stark.

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Mary Ward “He’d been a prisoner of war for almost the duration of the war.

“He was caught in Italy by the Germans and they bundled the soldiers into big trucks and they were driven to a camp in Munich.

“He had a pretty tough time. He went away a big, strong person and came home a very small man.”

The camp was on a site no larger than a quarter acre section.

On that section were row upon row of huts where 800 to 900 men were crammed into every possible space.

“It was dreadful for the men but Lester was lucky, he struck some

good chaps in his hut.”

Along with hunger, boredom was the biggest issue facing the prisoners but to pass the time they formed sports teams, one hut playing the other.

Looking back, Mary said, it was odd the equipment they managed to find. One man had a dart board and another in Lester’s hut had a gramophone and one record, Vera Lynn “At night they’d lie in their bunks and listen to her singing.”

The behaviour of camp guards made a huge difference in prisoners’ lives and Lester talked about one who supplied the men biscuits.

The camp was surrounded by a 10-foot wire fence and when they were told the war was over, the men rushed at the fence, jumped on it and flattened it, Mary said.

Lester didn’t often talk about his experiences but one day a stranger knocked at the Wards door. It was a fellow prisoner of war and they were able to share their memories.

Years later Lester and Mary went to Munich hoping to find the camp. Nothing remained.

In spite of the horrors of his war experience, Mary said her husband was never bitter or angry about those years.

Continued on page 4

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Sep 5 First Battle of Marne begins

Aug 23 Japan declares war on Germany

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Ashburton Guardian

Oct 19 First Battle of Ypres begins which essentially ends the war of movement on the Western Front

Aug 29 New Zealand captures German Samoa

Aug 19 President Woodrow Wilson announces that the United States will remain neutral

Saturday, April 21, 2018

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

from page 3

ished box made by her brother and given to their mother during World War One. “Where ever she lived it went with her and I still have it.”

Two of her uncles served in World War One; both came home.

Joan Archer The excitement when World War Two ended is something Joan Archer will never forget.

“I was in my last year at high school when the war finished and we were so excited.

“People went into Timaru and there was dancing in the streets,” she said.

“I can picture where I was sitting when the news came that the war was over.”

The crowds that turned out to greet the retuning soldiers were huge, she said and families had to wave placards so they could be found.

“It was an absolute melee.”

Joan recalls the way Timaru’s Caroline Bay changed during the war.

There was barbed wire all around the bay “just in case the Japanese came”, she said.

And while New Zealand was a long way from the heart of the war, Joan said church services at night were banned because of a fear that lights could put the country under enemy attack.

She remembers how the war changed school life. If your school gym frock wore out, then there were no replacements available.

“And we couldn’t get black stockings to wear, we had to wear boys’ socks.”

Oct 29 The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) enters the war on Germany’s side

Julie Burrowes Her mother’s wedding dress is a simple reminder for Julie Burrows of World War Two. “My parents were married dur-

ing the war so my mum was a war bride.

“Back in those days people made all their own clothes so my mother made her own wedding dress, it was pure cream and all made by hand.”

Her father served overseas, but when Julie asked him about those years, he refused to talk about what had happened and where he’d been, she said.

While she is too young to have any memories of the war, Julie attends Anzac services but says it is her mother’s war-time wedding dress that is the greatest reminder of that time of conflict.

Joan Archer Because she lived in the country there was always plenty of milk available, butter was made every Saturday and while many things were in short supply the food basics were not.

The war did dramatically change the quality of goods available however.

After painstakingly knitting a cardigan and proudly wearing it, Joan remembers washing it and watching all the colour leech out.

The good quality wool had all been used for army uniforms.

Like all New Zealanders, Joan’s family lived with the dread of finding out family or friends had been killed.

“We used to get the paper in the morning to see who had been killed in action and then we’d get in touch with people to

share their sorrow.”

Those war years were a time of waiting and wondering, wondering who would be called up and then who wouldn’t come back, Joan said.

She recalls packaging of food parcels to send to England.

“You’d wrap a fruit cake in calico – it had to be absolutely cold – sew it up and send it away,” she said.

As she approaches her 90th birthday, Joan, an ex-primary school teacher, said she has so many memories to enjoy, but those associated with the war are always tinged with sadness.

“So many men left their homes and their country. A lot never came back, but they did it for the love of New Zealand.”

In her bedroom she has a cher-

Julie Burrowes

Ashburton Toyota

The Ashburton RSA and the Ashburton Rotary Club would like to sincerely thank The Ashburton Guardian would also like to thank all the businesses involved in raising funds for the Poppy Welfare

1915

Apr 22 Start of the Second Battle of Ypres Jan 19 The first Zeppelin airship raid on Britain takes place

May 7 The liner RMS Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat Apr 25 Allied troops land in Gallipoli

May 23 Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary

Saturday, April 21, 2018

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

Ashburton Guardian

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The RSA – standing the tests of time If Merv Brenton achieves just one thing under his reign as president of the Ashburton RSA, growing the organisation’s membership, he’ll be a happy man.

And to achieve the growth in membership that eludes most RSAs, the Ashburton committee has come up with a new membership category.

It will be contacting sports clubs around the district offering them an opportunity to become corporate members.

“We’re aware we have to get some new blood in so we’ve come up with this idea of getting sports clubs connected to the RSA. Even if two or three from a club decide to join, that’s two or three new members on our books,” Merv said.

The executive committee wanted Ashburton’s RSA to become the place of choice for people wanting to share a drink or social time with Page 4 friends, he said.

“We need members because the people within the RSA are ageing.”

Clubs that did not come up with creative ways to gain new members were putting their future at risk, Merv said.

It wasn’t just clubs in smaller areas that were going into recess, clubs in cities such as Palmerston North and Nelson had closed on the back of falling numbers and the ever tightening regime of rules

indsD District istrictN News ews HHinds

Merv Brenton

Hinds Mechanical Services

There would be few organisations Kiwis hold closer to their hearts than the RSA. It’s an organisation that’s stood the test of time for 100 years, and Ashburton’s newly elected president talks to reporter Sue Newman about the way he sees the organisation growing in its second century.

and regulations.

A solid membership and having a freehold headquarters meant Ashburton’s “snorkels were out of the water”.

The corporate membership model would allow people on a club’s membership list to join the organisation as associate members.

Ian and Alison King have owned Hinds Mechanical for nearly 5 years.

They moved here from the north island and both say they have settled very well in Hinds. The business has come a long way since they first started, adding more staff and equipment to the place.

They keep a range of stock from belts, filters, bulbs, lubricants and much more. Ian says it’s important to try and keep things in stock for local people as it can save them a trip to town. They also stock supercharge batteries, Kumho tyres and Iron man 4x4 gear. They are a stockist and fitting agent for Iron man 4x4 and have a range of gear in their shop along with catalogues.

They have a good range of tyres and are competitive with their pricing. They repair and replace everything from car, 4x4, motorbikes, calfateria and even pivot tyres. They also do warrant of fitness for vehicles and trailers. They work on a large variety of vehicles from farm bikes, cars, utes, tractors and trucks. They are MTA approved members and

Like every RSA, Ashburton’s membership is now largely made up of returned service people from modern wars.

Continued on page 6

are able to do servicing and maintenance on new and late model vehicles and are able to carry out diagnostic scans.

There is plenty more they want to do to the place over time. Doing on farm servicing is something new they have just added, Ian says it saves the farmers time bringing their gear in when someone can go out to their farm and do it all in one go.

They both say they have had great support from customers and the community over the past 5 years and are very grateful.

They are open Monday to Friday 8am – 5.30pm. For after hours contact Ian 02102905347, workshop 3037822, Email :hindsmechanical@hotmail.co.nz

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Dec 20 The Allies evacuate the Anzac Cove and Suvla areas

Sep 5 Tsar Nicholas II assumes control of Russian Army Sep 25 Start of the Battle of Loos, a British attack on German positions in northern France

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Ashburton Guardian

From page 5 The number of World War Two vets declines every year, but it is the individuals who join the organisation as associate members who are now its strength, he said.

The difference between returned service members and associates comes in the benefits the servicemen and women receive through the organisation’s welfare fund.

Funds come from the annual Poppy Day street appeal that was held yesterday.

With the loss of ageing returned servicemen and women stories of the war are also lost, Merv said, because people hold those stories close, choosing not to talk about the war because they do not want to revive painful memories.

While the membership of the RSA might be changing, its role in ensuring servicemen and women of any war were not forgotten is unchanging. Merv, however, wants to see some change in the way their service is remembered.

“It’s always been about Lest we Forget, but I prefer to see this as We Will Never Forget Them. The roots of our organisation are in the past but we need to look forward too. We must maintain the principles of the RSA but times are changing time.”

As a challenge, he’d love to see membership rise from 800 to 1000 but more than that he’d like to see the members already on the books making better use of their club, turning out more often on Thursday club nights and sharing camaraderie on other nights too.

A courtesy bus does a pick-up and drop-off run on Thursday, Friday and

1916

Jan 27 Conscription is introduced in Britain Feb 21 Start of the Battle of Verdun, north-east France

Saturday, April 21, 2018 Saturday, meals are available each of those nights for members and the public, and an all-comers lunch is served up on Wednesdays.

“Having more of our members actually using the club would make a huge difference but anyone can come in here at any time, they just need to sign in. We’d love to see people turning up and enjoying our hospitality.”

Merv has taken over the leadership position just ahead of Anzac Day and said he’s stepping in and stepping up at the association’s busiest time. He’s no stranger to the work of the RSA around the commemorative events however, having been MC at services last year in Ashburton.

“That’s the one day of the year we’re in the public’s eye all day, but the records here are pretty good; we’ve been doing this for 100 years and it’s just a matter of meeting all the requirements,” he said.

The event itself may have changed little over the years, but staging Ashburton’s three services – dawn, cemetery and civic – now comes accompanied by a raft of regulations that must be met, Merv said.

Those constantly changing regulations make it a bit tougher each year to make the organisation’s Anzac Day commitments.

In the lead up to Anzac Day, Merv and his team visit schools and tell the Anzac story and they’re visiting resthomes to carry out services ahead of the actual day.

The resurgence in interest in Anzac Day was heartening for the RSA, he said and that growth in interest showed through each year, with growing numbers, particularly of younger people, attending services.

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

Mid Canterbury Anzac Day Services: ■■ Ashburton Cenotaph, 6.30am ■■ Ashburton Cemetery, 9am ■■ Ashburton Cenotaph, 11am ■■ Hinds Hall, 10am ■■ Mayfield Hall, 10am ■■ Mt Hutt Memorial Hall, 10am ■■ Rakaia Community Centre, 10.15am

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The Ashburton RSA and the Ashburton Rotary Club would like to sincerely thank The Ashburton Guardian would also like to thank all the businesses involved in raising funds for the Poppy Welfare

Sep 15 Tanks used for the first time during the 3rd phase of the Batlle of the Somme

Apr 29 British forces surrendered to Ottoman forces at Kut in Mesopotamia (Iraq) Jul 1 Start of the Battle of the Somme

1917

Mar 15 Tsar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate as political unrest grows in Russia Feb 1 Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare campaign resumes having ceased from September 1915 due to outrage from neutral countries

Saturday, April 21, 2018

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

Ashburton Guardian

August, 1914

BY VERA MARY BRITTAIN God said, “Men have forgotten Me: The souls that sleep shall wake again, And blinded eyes must learn to see.”

So since redemption comes through pain He smote the earth with chastening rod, And brought destruction’s lurid reign; But where His desolation trod The people in their agony Despairing cried, “There is no God.”

The battlefield at Arras.

Soldiers rest, March 1918.

Railside cemetery on the western front.

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Jun 7 Battle of Messines begins Apr 6 USA declares was on Germany

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Nov 7 The Bolsheviks successfully overthrow the Russian Government Jul 31 Start of the Third Battle of Ypres. The attack ends after the capture of Passchendaele in November

Dec 17 Armistice between Germany and Russia comes into effect

Nov 20 British tanks help win a temporary victory at Cambrai

Saturday, April 21, 2018

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

A North Otago draft outside the Drill Hall, 1917.

All that remained of Flers when captured by the New Zealanders, 1916.

Members of the Australian Imperial Guards listen to music with the enemy less than 30 yards away.

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The Ashburton RSA and the Ashburton Rotary Club would like to sincerely thank The Ashburton Guardian would also like to thank all the businesses involved in raising funds for the Poppy Welfare

1918

Mar 21 Germany launches the first of series of Spring Offensives which the Allies eventually counter successfully

Sep 19 Ottoman forces routed in Battle of Megiddo, Palestine

Aug 8 The ‘black day of the German Army’ as the Allies advance. German Army begins to collapse

Oct 4 Germany approaches United States to discuss an armistice but fighting continues

Saturday, April 21, 2018

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

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King George V passes the men of the Auckland battalion as they moved up to the front, March 1918.

After landing at Anzac Cove, soldiers began to use donkeys to provide first aid.

A crowd watches as World War One soldiers parade at Newton Park, Wellington.

28 October 1917.

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Oct 30 Ottoman Empire signs armistice

Nov 11 Germany signs an armistice with the Allies - the end of fighting in the First World War Nov 3 Austria-Hungary signs armistice

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Gallipoli & getting there

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Aug 5, 1914 Governor-General Lord Liverpool announces that New Zealand is at war

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

Mealtime in the trenches at La Signy Farm.

A NZ battery of 18 pounder field guns races toward Mailly-Maillet, March 1918. Š IWM Q8631. COLOURISATION 2015

Casualties from the Third Battle of Ypres.

The Ashburton RSA and the Ashburton Rotary Club would like to sincerely thank The Ashburton Guardian would also like to thank all the businesses involved in raising funds for the Poppy Welfare

Dec 3, 1914 NZEF disembarks at Alexandria, Egypt to begin training Oct 16, 1914 New Zealand Expeditionary Force leaves Wellington

Dec 20, 1915 Evacuation of Anzac troops from Gallipoli

Jul, 1915 The Maori Contingent is despatched to Gallipoli

Apr 25, 1915 Anzac troops land at Ari Burnu (Anzac cove)

Aug 8, 1915 Wellington Battalion captures Chunuk Bar

Saturday, April 21, 2018

ANZAC DAY FEATURE

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