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Guardian of the Anzacs remembered
On 22 April, a group of 400, including veterans, went to Rarotonga for Anzac Day, the Dawn Parade and to attend the unveiling of a plaque of gratitude next to Ettie Rout’s grave at the Avarua Cook Islands Christian Church, Rarotonga on behalf of NZ Remembrance Army.
The Commemorative Travel Fund helped some of the veterans with qualifying operational service attend this event.
Ettie Rout was one of the most remarkable New Zealand women of the 20th century. She now lies far from home in the back row of a graveyard at the old London Missionary Society Church (now Cook Islands Christian Church), in Avarua, Rarotonga.
Rout, known as the ‘Guardian Angel of the Anzacs’, was one of New Zealand’s earliest sexual health campaigners. During her life time she was regarded as eccentric, but now regarded as being ahead of her time.
When the bulk of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) left for France in April 1916, Rout remained in Egypt to care for the men fighting the desert campaign in Sinai and Palestine. Venereal disease remained a problem so Rout, working with doctors in this field, produced a prophylactic kit for soldiers. At the end of 1917, the NZEF adopted Rout’s kit and made it compulsory for soldiers going on leave to have it with them.
Rout died alone in Avarua in 1936, and some of the old soldiers there paid for a proper grave and headstone at the time. The plaque of gratitude was unveiled next to her grave in Rarotonga, ensuring that this World War I heroine will always be remembered.
