New Zealand Postcard Society (Inc.) Directory
| Patron | Geoff Potts | pottsfamily00@hotmail.com |
| President | Jeff Long | jefflong@xtra.co.nz |
| Vice-Presidents | Laurence Eagle | lfeagle@clear.net.nz |
| Diane McKoy | diane.brian@xtra.co.nz | |
| VP Research | Bill Main | wmain@paradise.net.nz |
| Secretary | Jenny Long | jenny-long@clear.net.nz |
| Treasurer | Ross Alexander | rossalexander@xtra.co.nz |
| Sales Mgr/Auctioneer | Chris Rabey | ships.pubs@paradise.net.nz |
| Editors | Jeff & Jenny Long | jefflong@xtra.co.nz |
| Committee | Geoff Potts | pottsfamily00@hotmail.com |
| John Eccles | john.eccles@xtra.co.nz | |
| Bruce Isted | cartophilic@xtra.co.nz | |
| Leo Haks | info@leohaks.co.nz | |
| Glenn Reddiex. | grredx@hotmail.com |
Life Members: Yvonne Coles, William Main, Geoff Potts, Chris Rabey, Doug South, Evie South, Ray Staal, Diane McKoy, Gladys Goodall.
Correspondence: all enquiries should be made to the Secretary, gerardmorris_nzkiwi@hotmail.com or by post to P.O. Box 20, Wakefield, Nelson 7052.
The Society Website is www.postcard.org.nz
The Postcard Pillar magazine is produced four times a year under the editorship of Jeff Long and Jenny Long. Contributions are very welcome at any time – please email or post to Jeff Long.
Membership of the Society can be obtained by sending a cheque payable to N.Z. Postcard Society Inc. to the Secretary, with your name, address, telephone number, email address and collecting interests.
The Subscription for the 2014 – 2015 year for a NZ individual or family member is $45, or $50 for an overseas member, in each case reduced by $5 if paid by September 30. Notices were enclosed in Issue 103 of the Postcard Pillar. Please pay if you haven’t done so already.
Postcard Pillar Issue 104 – World War One Commemorative Issue
This issue of the Postcard Pillar is the first to be printed entirely in full colour – enjoy!
Thanks to those who sent in articles, images or snippets. Keep sending them in, preferably in electronic format, but it is perfectly fine if this is not possible. The philosophy of the Editors is to get your words, images and research out to the membership of the Society.
| Contents | |
| 1 | Directory |
| 2 | Society News and Snippets |
| 3 | Introduction – Gerard Morris |
| 4 | Marshlands Military Camp 1912 – Robert Duns |
| 5 -14 | ANZACs at War – Alan Jackson |
| 15 – 17 | Off to the European War – Glenn Reddiex |
| 18 | Glorious in Battle for Freedom and Right – Gerard Morris |
| 19 – 26 | The “NZ” in ANZAC – Jeff Briggs |
| 27 – 28 | March over the Rimutakas – Leo Haks and Alan Jackson |
| 29 – 38 | A Royal Handout: the Windsor War-Time Cachet – the late Des HurleyPostscript to a Royal Handout – Alan Jackson |
| 39 – 44 | World War One Nursing Heroine; Miss Edith Cavell – Sue Claridge |
| 45 – 49 | Tapawera Military Camp – Rob Packer |
| 50 – 54 | Medical Treatment in World War One – Laurence Eagle |
Society News and Snippets
Obituary – Alistair Robb
Alistair Robb passed away recently. He had been a member of the Society for some time, and was a member at his death. He was elected to the committee in November 2000 and was elected Vice President in 2001 and remained in that position until August 2005. During the period on the committee Alistair was a very active supporter of Society Conventions, and often held meetings of local members at his home.While Alistair’s main collecting interest was banknotes, he was also very interested in postcards of Wellington and had a substantial collection and database of cards of the region.The Society offers its condolences to Alistair’s family and friends on behalf of members who knew him.
Brian McKoy
The Society offers its condolences to Diane McKoy on the recent death of her husband, Brian.
2014 NZ Postcard Society Convention
A reminder that this year’s Convention and Collectables Fair is at Hamilton Gardens in Hamilton on September 6-7.
The programme on Saturday includes displays by members of items of interest, and other collecting interests they may have, followed by the AGM at 4.00pm, followed by a visit to Jim Stuart’s Victorian villas, then dinner at the LoneStar.
Sunday will be busy with our Collectables Fair in the Exhibition Room at the Gardens. Members will have ‘first look’ from 8.30 until 10am. So far, five dealers have signed up to attend – John Eccles, Sylvie Lewis, Eric Diamond, David Bevan and Kevin Grant.
For further details, please refer to the information sent out in Issue 103.
Upcoming Postcard Exhibitions
There are two opportunities to view postcards at exhibitions this year. The first is Adelaide Stampex 2014. Further details can be found at www.adelaidestampex.com
The second is at the Baypex 2014 Stamp Show to be held Taradale (near Napier) from November 14-16. Further details can be found at www.baypex.org.nz You should plan to attend even if you are not exhibiting, so you can view the stamp and postcard exhibits on display and, of course, visit the dealers.
World War One Centenary 2014 to 2018 – and the Postcard Society
This current Issue of the Postcard Pillar is a special topic issue in that all the articles relate to World War One which began 100 years ago.
The assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand by Yugoslav nationalist, Gavrilo Princip set off a series of crises which activated alliances between the Allies (Britain, France and Russia) on one hand, and the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) on the other.
The conflict quickly drew in other countries, with Italy, Japan and the USA joining the Allies, and the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joining the Central Powers.
Britain declared war on Germany on the 4th August, and New Zealand quickly followed suit.
The Editors are seeking articles for further issues of the Postcard Pillar on New Zealand’s involvement in World War One, especially significant events such as the Gallipoli campaign, or the impact of war on New Zealand.
On 5 August 1914, the crowd cheered when the Governor, Lord Liverpool, stood on the steps of Parliament and read a telegram advising that a state of war existed between the British and German Empires. The Dominion (6 August 1914) wrote that, ‘Prime Minister William Massey declared that “New Zealand had done its duty on every occasion that the empire required assistance, and will do its duty on the present occasion, and will do its duty in a whole-hearted manner. That we shall be called upon to make sacrifices goes without saying, but I am confident that those sacrifices will be made… in a manner worthy of the occasion, and the highest traditions of the great race and Empire to which we belong.” ’ As a consequence, twenty percent of New Zealand’s eligible manpower was recruited, of whom over 100,000 were sent overseas to fight. Of all the Allied nations, only Britain’s proportion was higher.
As the years have passed, the history and memory of the War has changed. The surviving postcards and photographs continue to be studied and coupled to the highly emotive words of authors, such as Michael King in The Penguin History of New Zealand (2003), a bloody picture of campaigns that went terribly wrong for the ANZACs, is painted.
It is only in recent years that we have come to know the true extent of casualties. Of the 8,450 New Zealanders fighting at Gallipoli nearly 90 percent were casualties: 2,732 were killed and 4,752 wounded. In April 1916, New Zealand’s war shifted to the Western Front where, for two and half years, our soldiers lived in trenches that ran from the North Sea to Switzerland. On the Somme (September 1916) 1,560 were killed, at Messines (June 1917) there were 3,700 casualties, and Passchendaele (October 1917) 640 were killed and further 2,100 wounded in just a few hours. Another 500 were killed and 1,200 wounded in the Middle East. Michael King states boldly that the War “was slaughter on a scale unprecedented in human history and, considering the negligible result, utterly wasteful.”
New Zealand’s war did not end with the signing of the Armistice in 1918. It became the people’s war when the battlefield shifted to New Zealand. In just six weeks, during November and December, a further 8,500 died during the influenza pandemic. And, as New Zealanders slowly rebuilt their lives, they chose to forget.
Today, there is still a lingering aftertaste of bitterness at the gross stupidity of it all. Our perceptions, drawn mainly from the old black and white images, will continue to shape our feelings long into the future. A healing process has commenced which is resulting in a new confidence for our small country on the world’s stage. That ANZAC Day commemoration services enjoy the continued support of our nation’s young reaffirms the past is a treasure available to future New Zealanders who will seek answers. We will remember them.
The 1909 Defence Act was enacted in response to the Imperial Naval and Military Conference in London, August 1909. It introduced compulsory military training and created the Territorial Force.
The young men of New Zealand were required to undergo military training by regular parades at their local Drill Hall. From the age of 12 to 14 males were to be enrolled in the Junior Cadets, from 14 to 18 in the Senior Cadets, from 18 to 21 in the General Training Section, and from 21 to 30 in the Reserve. The Territorial Force, the principal defence force, was to be composed of men transferred from the General Training Section.
In 1911 officers and instructors were brought together in Featherston for advanced training as leaders, and this was followed in 1912 when all soldiers and troopers were assembled in week-long Regimental Camps in their military district. Further concentration followed in 1913 with Brigade scale camps, and early in 1914 with Division camps.
These temporary tented camps contained from several hundred to two to three thousand men who had Church of England Men’s Society canteens [CEMS} provided for them, and also a post office run by the chaplains whose main task was to handle registered letters, sell postage and to clear outward letters to the servicing office. In 1912 and 1913 the outward mail was stamped with a datestamp reading MILITARY CAMP struck to the left of the postage stamp, the latter being cancelled at the servicing office on receipt from the camp, so different dates can appear on the mail. Items with the cancel are priced from $600 upwards in auctions, but this card is unused.
This camp was held at Fox’s Farm, Marshlands (north of Christchurch city) from 4th to 13th April.1912, providing training to about 200 men of 7 Field Company.
The group was photographed by J. J. Cameron, who is recorded as being from Blenheim in Wish you were Here by William Main and Alan Jackson. (Editors’ Note: See article on J.J. Cameron by Glenn Reddiex in this issue)
A card is recorded of follies in Blenheim 1911, and there are a number of groups of soldiers from a variety of places in various collections, but little else appears to be recorded. A research project for someone perhaps?
Ref: Under Canvas. Postal History of the Territorial Military Camps of New Zealand A I Breen & R M Startup. Postal History Society of NZ 1992.
When Britain declared war on Germany and its Central Powers allies in August 1914, both New Zealand and Australia rushed to the support of the ‘mother country’. The regular armies of both were small, but large numbers of men had undergone military training in temporary ‘territorial’ camps in the years immediately before the war. Apart from minor engagements in the Pacific (the occupation of German New Guinea by Australian troops, and of German Samoa by New Zealand troops), the first major participation in the war by Australasian forces was at Gallipoli.
This image by ZAC, (Joseph Zachariah) was taken at a military camp at Trentham on 19th January 1908. He published it in postcard format soon after. From 1910 periodic military training was made compulsory. When the First World War broke out, the regular army was still tiny (barely 500 men), but large numbers of civilians had undergone military training.
The 10th group of NZ Expeditionary Force having Xmas dinner at May Morn camp, near Wellington, shortly before their departure overseas on active service early in 1916. This camp was located adjacent to a railway line, which can be seen in the background.
By late 1914 two divisions of New Zealand and Australian troops (about 20,000 men in all) had arrived in Egypt and were encamped near Cairo. These two divisions were amalgamated to form the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (or ANZAC for short, which thereafter lead to the Australasian forces being known collectively as the ANZACs).
In April 1915, all of the ANZAC forces except cavalry left Egypt to take part in the ill-conceived attempt by the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force to wrest control of the Gallipoli peninsular from the Turks. The landing took place on 25th April 1915. The Turks were well prepared for the invasion and were entrenched on all the high ground. Inevitably, casualties among the invading forces were enormous. And once they had struggled ashore, they were obliged to dig an extensive system of trenches in order to defend precariously what little land they had won. As a result of this activity, the troops from ‘down under’ became known as the ‘diggers’.
The Gallipoli campaign was a resounding failure, and after eight months of virtual stalemate, the Allied forces were withdrawn. Casualties among the ANZACs were severe: the N. Z. Division, for instance, lost 2,700 dead and 4,750 wounded, a very high proportion (around 90%) of the men engaged. Australian losses were in similar proportions. For many months during the Gallipoli campaign, the British War Office tried to conceal from the public in New Zealand and Australia the extent of the losses suffered by the colonial forces. Relatives were often not advised of deaths till months after the event.
Initially the colonial forces had gone into the fray with patriotic enthusiasm to serve King and Country, but among those who survived it the Gallipoli fiasco must have sown the seeds of scepticism about the competence of the British high command. Later, when the colonial forces were transferred to France, this scepticism gradually developed into outright insubordination.
Because of the serious losses suffered at Gallipoli, the campaign had an enormous impact at home. Thereafter, the anniversary of the landing on 25th April became a day of remembrance in both New Zealand and Australia. In later years, one writer was to observe “Few nations have chosen to celebrate such a conspicuous defeat with a national holiday”. For decades after, the day was marked in all respects as if it were a Sunday. It was not till the 1960s that this strict regime was modified and sports and other activities were allowed in the afternoon.
The remnants of the ANZAC infantry evacuated from Gallipoli returned to Egypt. There they joined thousands of reinforcements who had arrived in the interim from ‘down under’. The cavalry forces were formed into the ANZAC Mounted Division. This body was occupied for most of the remainder of the war in driving the Turks out of Palestine, which was eventually captured. In March 1919, after the war ended, the division was used by the British to put down riots in Egypt, a role with which the colonial troops were not happy.
The balance of the ANZAC forces in Egypt (the large majority) left in April 1916 for France. There, over the next two and a half years, they took part with other Allied forces in a long series of bloody campaigns which again resulted in comparatively large losses: the Somme, Messines, Passchendaele, Ypres.
King George V decorating ANZAC troops in a ceremony on Salisbury Plain. Among the group at left, in bowler hat and walrus moustache, is W.F. Massey, Prime Minster of N.Z. He visited England twice during the war to participate in Imperial War Conferences.
Casualties were so heavy that later in 1916 the New Zealand Government introduced conscription by decree. In Australia, the issue of conscription was subjected to a national referendum in October 1916. The proposal was narrowly defeated (by 48.5% to 51.5%), and conscription was never introduced there.
New Zealand’s population at the time of the war was a little over one million. Of these, 125,000 men served in the war (about half the men of military age). Of the 100,000 who went off to fight in the Middle East and Europe, 92,000 were volunteers; the rest were conscripted. Half were either killed (17,000) or wounded (41,000). Australian casualties were almost as heavy in proportion to that country’s population.
Australian historian Manning Clark, in his book A Short History of Australia, assessed the cost to the nation of its entry into the war as very heavy. “Of the 416,809 who entered the services during the war, 331,781 had taken the field; of these, 59,342 were killed, and 152,171 wounded.” In monetary terms “the cost of the war between 1914 and 1919 was assessed at £364 million, while between 1919 and 1939 the consequential cost in pensions, repatriation, care of the wounded, interest on war debts, and aid to returned Australians was around another £26 million’.
The heavy casualties inevitably had a serious effect on manpower resources in New Zealand and Australia for many years after the war ended. The carnage also meant that many colonial women had little chance of marriage after the war, so great was the competition for men. Some of the returning troops made matters even worse by bringing back brides from Britain.
Throughout the war, the ANZAC forces had behind them energetic and enthusiastic support services. From very early in the war, numerous patriotic societies were set up to aid the war effort. The volunteers in these societies beavered away throughout the war, not only raising funds for the needy in the devastated Allied countries, but also providing creature comforts for colonial troops serving overseas.
One of the many Queen Carnival processions held in NZ in 1915 – this one at Napier. In the foreground are the Carnival Queen’s float and a rather quixotic wheeled version of HMS New Zealand. The carnivals were held to raise funds for the war effort.
The area shown here was devastated in a severe earthquake in 1931.
A more modest patriotic procession – of school children in Havelock. Most of the children are dressed in costumes representing the Allied countries. The group in front pose as Red Cross workers, complete with bandaged patient on a trolley. Card published by Akersten, Havelock.
Three bit players from a local patriotic event circa 1915. One small boy impersonates the Kaiser (wounded and in chains). Granny, armed with a walking stick and handbag, keeps an eye on proceedings. Embossed blind stamp of local Blenheim photographer A.McCusker, lower left. One of my favourite First World War cards!
Following the transfer of the bulk of the ANZAC forces from Egypt to France in 1916, ANZAC military hospitals were established in England. Soldiers wounded at the battle front were invalided out to these, usually via Southampton.
The N. Z. forces, for example, had a hospital with over 1500 beds at Brockenhurst, Hants., and others at Walton-on-Thames, Hornchurch, and Codford. Hundreds of colonial women were sent across to work as voluntary aides in these hospitals.
Kiwi symbol carved by Kiwi troops on the chalk hillside above Sling camp, Bulford, Wiltshire U.K. Published by Fred Wright, Andover c. 1916. This relic of the war still survives, the design having been recently re-cut by locals for the upcoming centenary of the NZ troops’ presence there.
A NZ Expeditionary Force ambulance ready for service in England (probably at NZ No.1 General Hospital, Brockenhurst, Hampshire). A warning on the side reads “Load not to exceed 1 driver, 1 attendant, & 8 patients.” The WOP may indicate extra containers of water, oil and petrol.
Funds to purchase N.Z.E.F ambulances were raised by local communities in N.Z. The ambulances in England (many with women drivers) were used to transport wounded soldiers from ports or railway stations to hospital, while others were sent to France to operate there.
As the war dragged on in Europe, some of the colonial troops began to grow disillusioned with the whole business. Discipline problems were growing. By 1918, an average of one British soldier per thousand was in military prison at any one time for disciplinary offences. The corresponding figure for New Zealand troops was 1.6, and for Australians, nine per thousand!
The following extracts from New Zealand soldiers’ letters home tell the story (‘them’ presumably refers to the British high command).
“I won’t soldier any more for them as long as I am in France, as they are treating us like dogs. All the boys are fed up with it as they won’t give us any rest”
“. . . . A man would be better off in the clink doing a couple of years. Nothing would please me more than to see our blokes jib”.
“ . . . . We are expecting Fritz over any time now. I think the quicker he drives us out of France the better. It is quite time to end it somehow or other. Everybody is fed up with the war out here, and we don’t care who wins it so long as we get it over”
They didn’t have much longer to wait.
(This article is a revised version of one article written by Alan for the Picture Postcard Monthly Issue 109 May 1988)
The following pages depict more of the illustrations which accompanied the original 1988 article.
The Daily Mail Official War Picture Series, printed in England was a long one.
The scenes from official sources were carefully posed to create a positive impression of the war for those back home.
The cards were sold in sets of eight for 6d per packet. This card from series 15 is no. 113. It was later reprinted in Series 18 (sepia) as card no. 137.
The final Daily Mail sets were printed in sepia. This card is no. 159 from Set no. 20, The New Zealanders. The caption on the back reads “The Right Hon W.F. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward at the Front. They are seen beside a war plane talking about its capabilities.”
New Zealand did not have an air force till several years after the war!
A NZ Observer Postcard by Blo. The day after Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914, New Zealand followed suit. New Zealand’s first belligerent act was to send an expeditionary force to German Samoa, which was surrendered with only token resistance by the small German garrison on 29th August. The fat German in the hammock is saying “you can have her and velcum but hurry up mit der trade”. Blo was the pen name of William Blomfield whose professional life as a cartoonist spanned over 50 years till his death in 1938. He was co-owner of the New Zealand Observer weekly, which published this card soon after the cartoon appeared in its pages.
New Zealand’s gift to the Empire was the cruiser HMS New Zealand. The funds to build the ship were donated to the Royal Navy by the Government of NZ in 1909. The ship was commissioned in 1912. She visited NZ only twice, in 1913 and 1919, and was scrapped in 1921. During the war, she took part in several naval battles, including Jutland.
Published by Harrington, Wellington 1913.
A coloured Hands Across the Sea Christmas card designed to be sent to NZ troops serving in France. Blighty is at the top left, and a NZ homestead below.
Published by Frank Duncan & Co, Auckland probably about 1916.
Patriotic card published early in the war, and exemplifying the jingoistic spirit prevalent at the time. Lord Liverpool was Governor General of NZ when war broke out. Published by The Brett Printing Co. Auckland, NZ
The Kaiser getting his just desserts for meddling with the Serbian beehive.
Another fine cartoon by Blomfield, published in postcard format by The Observer soon after the war started.
This card was issued by the weekly magazine The Free Lance using a cartoon which appeared in its issue of 29th August 1914. Britain and France rush to the aid of Belgium, as the German Kaiser attempts to sneak in through the window. NZ enthusiastically supported Britain’s declaration of war for violating Belgian neutrality.
An Observer Print card. One ship each from Canada and South Africa, two from Australia, and no less than three from New Zealand, are drawn to the call to protect the Empire.
Memento of the disastrous ANZAC landing on the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915. General Birdwood was the commander of the ANZAC forces. Rotary Photo postcard 7623-N
British Bulldog with Maori tattoo and hei-tiki around its neck. Some Maori tribes in fact refused to fight in the war. Published by the NZ Herald newspaper.
ANZAC Silhouette Series by Photochrom, signed by G.A.S. The soldier wears the distinctive slouch hat of the ANZACs. The New Zealand troops later adopted the lemon squeezer style shown in the Tuck Onward card.
An ingenious interpretation of New Zealand rushing to the aid of the ‘mother country.’ Tuck’s Oilette Connoisseur Series No 2357
One of a set of 12 New Zealand YMCA cards issued in Britain around 1916-17. The wry humour makes no attempt to glamorise the war.
Cards hand-embroidered by French women specifically for sale to Allied troops in France were a significant industry during the war. Some designs were intended for the NZ trooper and even for specific NZ units. This one celebrates the NZ Engineers and was sent (under cover) to New Zealand as a Christmas card in 1916. The message says (inter alia) “We have hunted all over Bournemouth and Poole for a card with Kia Ora on it for you and found it at last in a funny little old shop in Bournemouth Arcade.”
First World War military camps in the Wairarapa and Hutt Valley were a temporary home to a mass concentration of soldiers from all over New Zealand. New recruits spent many weeks in these training camps preparing and developing fitness and fighting skills before embarking overseas for combat.
Two New Zealand troopers pose outside their bell tent. Real photographic portrait postcard by J.J. Cameron.
Beyond military drill, the camps boasted a variety of amenities for the troops to enjoy and use. At Featherston Camp for example, there was a jeweller, bookseller, tailor and military outfitter, draper, hairdresser and photographer.
The latter trade was very popular and many of the trainees posed for single and group photo portraits at the camp. They were either kept as a souvenir or sent on to family and friends. Names such as James Daroux, J.B. Arnold, Tom Varley, Allan Mackenzie, Griffiths and Burrell, Luther Mence, Alphonse O’Halloran and J. J. Cameron were popular military camp photographers during the war period.
It is J.J. Cameron’s portraits which I find quite striking and set his work apart from the other photographer’s work. His subjects seem more relaxed, and somehow more distant and untroubled from the reality of war.
John Jarvis Cameron was born c1884. Little information is known of his childhood and indeed, his path in to what would become a profession and trade in photography. He married Vera Avery in about 1908 in New Zealand and they soon started a family; they had two children Vera Jessie Beryl born c1908 and John Charles Donald born c1912.
John’s photography was accepted and appreciated by a number of publications, and in November 1911 he had his photographs of the Marlborough A & P Show appear in the Canterbury Times, Graphic, The Farmer and the Otago Witness. Other subjects he caught on camera included; hop growing in Nelson, Kaikoura coastline, construction of the Otira tunnel, Wakefield people and landscape, and even endurance roller skating at the Olympia Rink in Wellington.
In mid-1912 “J.J. Cameron”, as he signed his photographs, had been occupying a large home called Kinross House in Blenheim. In July a fire destroyed the house and Cameron was lucky to escape with his life. Most of the furniture and effects, including Cameron’s photographic equipment was lost in the blaze.
It was later suggested the fire may have started in Cameron’s dark room in the early hours of the morning. Fortunately, he was insured and it is likely the insurance pay-out enabled Cameron to resume his photographic business.
The Cameron family left Blenheim for a fresh start and settled in Wakefield in the Nelson region. J.J. Cameron quickly established a good reputation in the area for his photographic work. However he was again struck by misfortune when in October 1913 he was injured in a motor accident on Wakefield Quay opposite the rowing club’s shed.
He had been travelling on a motorcycle into town and collided with a horse drawn trap driven by a Mr Trask, of Stoke. Cameron sustained serious head injuries and was left unconscious and taken to hospital. Doctors held grave concerns that he might not recover but again J.J. Cameron emerged from tragic circumstance and survived the ordeal.
“NZ Expeditionary Forces Mailmen. Trentham Encampment.” 1914.Real photographic postcard by J.J. Cameron.
The outbreak of war in August 1914 provided Cameron with new subject material; New Zealand soldiers in uniform. Tapawera, Tauherenikau, Featherston and Trentham camps would become a key source for his photographic work for the next four years.
John Cameron and his family crossed Cook Strait to live in the Wairarapa. His wife Vera worked at Featherston as a dining room proprietress while John continued his photographic studio work.
By July 1917 there were approximately 2,800 men at Tauherenikau military camp. The larger camp at Featherston housed an estimated 4,500 and another 3,000 at the nearby Canvas camp. This was a good sized customer base for any photographer to work amongst.
J J Cameron was photographer at Tauherenikau Military Camp in 1918. Business must have been going well for him and on 28 January he advertised for a “good all-round photographer, for studio and outdoor work”. The rate of pay was £3 per week and 10 per cent commission on takings.
“Off to the European War.” 1915. Real Photographic Postcard by J.J. Cameron
“I Say Girls; We Don’t Get Much Money But We Do See Life.” 1916. Real photographic postcard by J.J. Cameron.
But how quickly things can change in time of war. J J Cameron was listed among those on the Wairarapa Recruiting District (No.18) called up for military service in June 1918. However it is unlikely he ever made it into the ranks. A short time later that he had to undergo an operation in hospital prompting the sale of his photographic studio and equipment at Tauherenikau Camp.
Whether the operation was a success or not is unknown. It is also uncertain whether he ever returned to studio work. Whatever pursuit he chose in later years may not have surpassed the quality photographic workmanship seen in his prime during the war. Cameron caught the youthful confidence of many New Zealand men on camera before they left for war, many of whom never returned. John Jarvis Cameron went on to live to the ripe old age of 78 years and passed away in the early 1960’s.
The Great War was the ideal occasion for postcard manufacturers to not only promote patriotism, but also to let the public know that the soldiers on the battlefield came from many different countries.
Above and below: This Tuck’s “Oilette”, No. 3150, was one of a colourful series featuring overseas regimental badges, in this case the New Zealand General Service Badge. By this time the fern frond had become a prominent symbol of New Zealand. Interestingly, by virtue of their sale in France, the postcards appear to have been produced primarily for the multinational forces to reinforce the belief that their contribution was righteous. The postcards also prompted servicemen to spend a few pennies and keep in touch with their families at home.
The message, written at 10.15pm, on 3 April 1919, by Private Cornish (?) to his daughter Dolly in London, reads: “My Darling Baby, Another pretty badge for you dear. Thanks for your loving letter, will try & answer it tonight but I must answer Mamma’s first. Love to both Your loving. Daddy xxxxx
The patriotic responsibility of Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand and the African Colonies to supply troops in support of Britain, the Lion, is graphically shown in this postcard published during The Great War. The names of the countries make up the lines of the lion’s mane. The image reasons that by making the commitment to support Britain, each nation has elevated its own magnificence. (Boots the Chemists “Patriotic” Series, “A Tribute to our Colonies” – By William Armitage.)
I live in Melbourne & I am a member of one of the many philatelic societies here. We have a one-frame (16 pages) annual competition, and last year I won with my entry “Mails By Rail: Christchurch to Invercargill, 1878 – 1908”. It’s all about the postmarks that were placed on envelopes & postcards by postal officers located on trains, but the postcards intrigued me, so I joined the NZ Postcard Society to find out more about this side of my hobby.
I’ve decided to enter again this year, and as 2014 is the centenary of the commencement of World War 1, I felt I should be topical, and that I could produce a postcard entry. I believe that the NZ in Anzac is not really appreciated this side of the ditch, so “The NZ IN ANZAC” will be my theme. What follows describes what paths I’ve followed to produce my entry.
When the UK declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914, the NZ government followed on the 5th. Then, on 16th October 1914, the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) sailed from Wellington, linked up with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at Albany, Western Australia, and sailed to Egypt. On the 8th December 1914 the NZEF & the AIF formed the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and ANZAC was born. Records show that 8,427 men & 3,815 horses left New Zealand in that 1st Convoy.
The fighting at Gallipoli is well known, but the ships that took the 1st Convoy there less so. Out of a 38-strong convoy NZ had 10 ships including the HMNZT ships Hawkes Bay, Ruapehu, Tahiti, and Athenic. This was the largest single group of troops to ever leave NZ. Naval escorts included the HMS Minotaur of the Royal Navy’s China Station, HMAS Melbourne, the NZ Station’s Philomel, Psyche and Pyramus, & the Japanese battle cruiser Ibuki.
Before leaving NZ, the 1st convoy volunteers trained for 14 weeks at the Trentham Military Camp, or at smaller local camps. After 1915 they also trained at the larger camp in Featherston.
Real photo postcards seem to be readily available, and many are in mint condition. This one, Trentham 1916, has a message dated 5 April 1916, from Pt Dugald Wilson, 14th Infantry Reinforcements… “a few lines to let you know I have enlisted & have been in camp a week & it is not bad”. Dugald survived the war.
In the fourteenth week of training the men marched over the Rimutaka Hill. Postcards of the 10th Reinforcements were produced by James Henry Daroux, later famous for his photos of post-earthquake Napier. (Editors’ Note – Jeff Brigg’s cards (not shown) are a panorama of three, almost identical to Leo Haks’ postcards of the 33rd Reinforcements in this issue).
Group photos were also popular, but most do not indicate who is being photographed. This one of the No1 Platoon 23rd Reinforcements has a pencil inscription indicating they were in Maidstone Park, used as a resting place on the Rimutaka march. Part of the 23rd embarked on 14 March 1917, and the remainder on 2 April 1917
After the withdrawal from the Gallipoli Peninsula in December 1915, the NZ Division went to the Western Front. After basic training in New Zealand the men were shipped to England for 30 days training at Sling Camp on the Salisbury Plains. On a postcard written in Sling Camp 13 March 1917, by Pte A H Hogan, 20th Reinfs, NZMC, he says, “in answer to your card … you wrote it after I had left… Awapuni”.
These troops left New Zealand on 30 December 1916 on HMNZT Athenic and arrived at Plymouth 3 March 1916. Awapuni, which is located at Palmerston North Race Course, was the training camp for medical reinforcements, hence NZMC in Hogan’s address.
During the Gallipoli campaign HMNZHS (Hospital Ship) Maheno was set up to treat wounded, & convey them to land hospitals. She also took men home to NZ for extended convalescence.
After the Gallipoli withdrawal, Maheno was transferred to Boulogne for the Somme Offensive, and was joined by HMNZHS Marama. The postcard of Maheno shows her before she became a Hospital Ship.
Of philatelic interest is the postmark for the Maheno “No 1 Hospital Ship” sent from “somewhere in the Arabian Sea & a monsoon is on.”
The first NZ land based Military Hospital was set up in the Mount Felix villa at Walton-on-Thames, in Surrey, and immediately began receiving wounded from Gallipoli.
After Brockenhurst opened as the No 1 Hospital, Walton-on-Thames became the No 2 NZ General Hospital.
NZ soldiers were pleased to be treated by their own countrymen & women in a hospital with a NZ atmosphere.
On the postcard of the Lord Plunket shelter an ex-patient noted that the “long building behind shelter is Ward V in which I was living … I often used to sit where the two boys are shown. Shelters can be turned round on a pivot to suit the weather. Used chiefly for chest cases.”
Oatlands Park, near Walton-on-Thames, was also used, especially for limbless and TB cases.
The passenger in the donkey cart appears to be missing his left leg, and so needs transportation.
Following the formation of the NZ Expeditionary Force HQ in England, it was necessary to set up convalescent care facilities, and so Hornchurch, in East London, was chosen for this. From here, and similar hospitals, men, when they were fit again, were transferred back to service.
The NZ YMCA created facilities for the rest and recreation of the men.
The Shakespeare Hut, operated by the YMCA on the corner of Gower & Keppel Street, London, was also used for the accommodation of servicemen, and to entertain them.
The Daily Mail paid UK army charities for the right to produce a number of picture postcards from photographs taken by official photographers on the Western Front. The full collection is made up of 176 cards in 22 series of 8 cards each. The first series were released on 6 September 1916. In January 1917 series 19 (Australia) & series 20 (cards 153 – 160) (New Zealand) were issued, both titled “ANZACS IN FRANCE”.
Card 157, Bread and Jam, (above) is of men of the 2nd Battalion Auckland Regiment in a switch trench, during the Battle of Flers Courcelette, 15 – 22 September, 1916. The photograph was taken by a member of the Royal Engineers No 1 Printing Company on 15th September.
The note (right) on the reverse, dated France, 14.6.17, says “This is just like the new trenches we dug the day we went over to visit Fritz ….. those tins you see are petrol tins used for carrying water”.
The NZ Memorial to the Division’s actions on the Somme is found at the former site of the Switch Line trench on a lane off the D197 road, north of Longueval, and the Division’s memorial to its Missing in France is located near the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, just east of the village of Longueval.
Card No 155, “New Zealanders Cheer the King” (reduced size scan), shows General Herbert Plumer, Commander of the 2nd Army (white moustache, behind King George V), General Alexander Godley, Commander of the 2nd ANZAC Corps (King’s right), & General George Harper, Commander of the 51st (Highland) Division (King’s left). The photograph was taken on 14 August 1916, by Lt Ernest Brooks, the first official photographer of British military.
Card 158, “A Brawny Maori Butcher”, shows the butcher cutting carcases with an axe, near Fricourt, in September 1916. The photo was taken by Lt John Warwick Brooke, near the location of the battle of Albert.
Card 159, “New Zealand Premier’s Visit”, shows the Rt. Hon. W F Massey, & Sir Joseph Ward talking about a Nieuport 17 plane. (Editors’ Note – see Alan Jackson’s article, in this issue).
Card 160, “A Queue to the Field Canteen”, shows a line of troops queuing to buy stores from a field canteen near the Amiens – Albert Road, September 1916. Lt Ernest Brooks took the image.
While news from the various battle zones seems to have come fairly quickly to NZ, pictures didn’t. Consequently, film nights in NZ towns were popular, often with a full orchestra providing patriotic songs.
The Municipal Theatre, Napier provided such nights on 28, 30 & 31 August 1916, & issued postcards to advertise the event.
The Tuapeka Times, 22 January 1916, page 3 reported that the chief attraction was “genuine war pictures…(with) the actual photographer engaged to describe the war as it really is, with no attempt to gloss over unpleasant truths….the atrocities of the Germans are sad, but true, and must be seen to be realised. This extraordinary entertainment will doubtless attract a large audience”. Also shown were pictures of troop departures.
A ceasefire came into effect at 11:00am on November 11, 1918, but Peace did not come until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28th 1919. Among many commemorations is this postcard designed by J.D.McKenzie, a returned soldier (see next page).
World War 1 took 103,000 New Zealanders overseas. In battle they were able to compare themselves with men from other nations, & there arose a sense of separate identity: they began to refer to themselves as “KIWIS.”
The total population of NZ in 1914 was just over one million, and more than 120,000 of them enlisted, representing 42% of men of military age, 21–49. A further 3,370 New Zealanders served in the Australian or British forces.
Of the dominions in the British Empire, New Zealand made the largest per capita contribution of its manpower.
Around 18,500 New Zealanders died in, or because of the war, and about 41,000 were wounded. More than 2,700 died at Gallipoli & 12,500 on the Western Front.
An enduring view of the significance of the war on NZ society was summed up by a man who participated in WW1 from Gallipoli to France.
Ormond Burton went from being a stretcher-bearer at Anzac Cove to a highly decorated infantryman on the Western Front. He believed that “…..somewhere between the landing at Anzac and the end of the battle of the Somme, New Zealand very definitely became a nation.”
www.flotilla-australia.com – Australian & New Zealand Army Corp Essential Shipping History
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz – NZ in the First World War
Surrender of Germany 11.10.1918. Rejoicing at Timaru. by William Ferrier. Card from Don White, Dunedin (Note the date on the card should be 11.11.18)
33rd Reinforcements March over the Rimutakas. J.H. Daroux Opp Hut 17 Trentham. Daroux (1870-1943) worked at 45 Vivian St as a photographer, and also gave as an address in 1915 “J.H. Daroux, Photographer, opp. Canteen, Trentham Camp”. Daroux is well known for his images of the Napier Earthquake.
Military training took place in semi-permanent reinforcement training camps around New Zealand such as Trentham, Featherston and Tauherenikau. Of these Trentham was the main camp. By 1918 it could hold 4,500 men in huts and 2,000 more in tents. Featherston camp could hold 4,500 men in huts and 3,000 in tents, and was established in January 1916.
Infantry reinforcements spent their first five weeks at Trentham being equipped, doing drill and basic military training, and then transferred to Featherston for eight weeks for advanced training.
At the end of their training at Featherston, many of these soldiers marched back over the Rimutakas along its gravelled road. They stopped for a refreshments break at the Rimutaka Road Summit and bivouacked overnight near Kaitoke (and some reinforcements a second time at Mangaroa Valley) before arrival at Trentham Camp.
It was a journey of approximately 34 kilometres and was often photographed for postcard souvenirs. Prominent photographers whose work included images of the camps, or the Rimutaka marches include; Bickerton, Henry Brett, James Henry Daroux, Allan Mackenzie and Luther Mence.
Message on reverse of postcard above shown on opposite page
Papers Past. Evening Post, November 1917
Text reproduced courtesy of the Royal Philatelic Society of NZ. Replacement Postcard images courtesy of Alan Jackson.
Occasionally, although not so often these days, one comes across a World War I vintage postcard which has not been through the mail but has on the reverse side a purple cachet saying “From the King & Queen …Windsor Castle”.
You might struggle, as I did, to find any reference to this in the literature. It is not in Whitney’s Collect British Postmarks1, neither among Royalty and Parliamentary nor among Tourist Cachets where it should be, along with the likes of Land’s End, Beachy Head, and Honeybills / South-Stack-Tearooms. Nor is there anything relevant in Morgan’s Royal Household Mail2 Finally, when all obvious possibilities had been exhausted, I found some notes I had made some years ago.
In 1970, Mr George Crabb, an authority on English postmarks, wrote to Gibbons Stamp Monthly after they had published an article of his on this and other English cachets.
[This cachet] on a mint postcard was sent to me from a reader in New Zealand. . . . . Enquiry at Windsor Castle produced a courteous reply to the effect that they had examined their records and King George V and Queen Mary were in fact at Buckingham Palace on 29 May 1917 and visited an American Hospital at Lancaster Gate and the cachet had nothing to do with any particular function on that day. It is possibly therefore just a presumptuous effort by one of Windsor’s tradesmen who hoped to sell his postcards more readily by means of the cachet than otherwise. It is the only example I have seen and I have heard of no other.3
This produced an immediate reply from a Mr T Baxter of Haselmere in Surrey:
Your contributor, George F. Crabb, owes the tradesmen of Windsor an apology and a debt to the memory of H.M. King George V and Queen Mary! The English cachet [No.14 in July’s SM] was a gift from Their Majesties to wounded and invalid soldiers of the First World War who visited Windsor Castle at their Majesties’ invitation from time to time.
I have one such card in my possession dated 9th July1918 which was given to me on one such occasion. Their Majesties were not “at home” during my visit, but Princess Alice of Athlone deputised for them – bid us all welcome, showed us around the castle, gave us tea and then presented us all with this Post Card of Windsor Castle (a war-time production of no great merit!) with the cachet on the reverse side … as a reminder of our visit. I was at the time in the King Edward VII Hospital at Windsor.”
Reference was made to this exchange in the Mailcoach by the Rev. A. H. Voyce.
As Mr Baxter says, these were typically given to wounded men in tour groups visiting Windsor Castle from one of the surrounding hospitals and the picture on the reverse is, naturally, of Windsor Castle.5
His card, dated 23 July, 1918, carried a pencilled “Alice”. The then-editor of the Mail Coach, Robin Startup, added a postscript and reproduced a similar card dated 17 December, 1918 which has a message but no stamp:
Went to Windsor Castle on Tuesday and had this PC. What do you think of my cobbers now.
A separate invitation card also survives:
By Command of the King. Admit the Bearer to the State Apartments, Windsor Castle, on Tuesday, 23rd July, 1918, between the hours of 2.30 p.m. and 4.30p.m. Sandhurst, Lord Chamberlain.
Editors’ Note: The original of the card was not available so the scan from the article has been used, to help illustrate the discussion.
See Alan’s postscript article following.
This has also the faint purple oval date stamp of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, for 23 July, l918.
More light is cast upon these events by an account of a day’s outing from Walton on Thames Hospital by Rifleman Pope of Pelorus Sound whose wound was healing nicely and who was allowed to get up for a few hours each day.
The people here are very kind, and there are plenty of free motor trips. The Matron allowed me to go for one on Friday and we went to the Windsor Castle. It is a terrible big castle, and there were lots of things to see.
Rifleman Pope was having a good time in England, a welcome change from France.
I have not had too good a time in France – hard work all the time, shooting, and all that sort of thing6.
In a letter to his family, Quartermaster Gordon Saunders, who had been hospitalised in Oatlands Park Hospital, Weybridge and was about to be invalided back to Tinakori Road in Thorndon, gave a more detailed account of his day’s outing.7
Yesterday I went with several others on the Windsor Trip, to Windsor Castle. We started off from here in a special bus at 1 o’clock and arrived outside the castle at five past two, 16 3/4 miles through the loveliest country you could wish to see. On arrival we went through the Henry VIII gate and straight into St George’s Chapel, which is really magnificent.
Saunders then goes on to describe the Royal Family’s State apartments in some detail, concluding with the highlight of the day.
Then the dining room, with more magnificent paintings, where we saw two paintings, one of the King, and the other of the Queen, in progress. The artists were working while we watched them quite unconcerned. It was here that we received word that the King and Queen were going to receive us. It raised a flutter of excitement among us, but I was jolly pleased, I can tell you, to have the chance. So we formed two deep, and when they were ready we filed past them in the banqueting hall. His Majesty was dressed in the uniform of the army and looked splendid, while the Queen was dressed in a mauve frock, which was very pretty indeed. They shook hands with as many as possible, including yours truly, and it was all over. Some ‘stunt’ I can tell you.
After that, we went to the supper room and had afternoon tea. The tables were set; right full length of the room with brown bread and butter and cakes. Waiting and pouring out tea were Princess Mary, who is very pretty, Princess Alice, and Prince John, with several other ladies-in-waiting. When tea was over’ Princess Mary handed each one a post-card from the King and Queen with the date stamped on it. After that we went all through the stables, where we saw some lovely horses and carriages. After that, we strolled round the castle terraces, and finished up by having an hour and a-half in the town of Windsor which, of course, is a very old place. Really, I could write yards about the whole day, but will be better able to tell you myself. It was indeed great.
Another card in my collection, with an August 13, 1918, cachet on the back, merely carries the handwritten note, Visited Castle. Received this from Princess Alice going out of Castle. The three postcards in my possession all have different views of the castle from the grounds.
All of this tends to suggest the cards were given to soldiers from the then-Empire or America visiting for the day.
The names of Rifleman Saunders’ three young royals may well sound unfamiliar but they were obviously minding the shop whilst the other young men of the family were away at the war or at school. Edward (Edward VIII) was away in the Army, Bertie (George VI) in the Navy. Henry (the Duke of Gloucester) was at Eton, and George (the Duke of Kent) was at Naval College.
Princess Alice (1885-1981), Queen Victoria’s last surviving grandchild, was also known as the Countess of Athlone. Princess Mary (1897-1965), George V and Mary’s only daughter, was better known as the Princess Royal, and Prince John (1905 —1919), George’s youngest son, who had suffered from epilepsy since the age of four, was sixth in line to the throne. John hit the headlines in recent years when it was revealed that around 1917, when his epileptic condition had deteriorated, he was quietly taken out of the public eye, and was looked after until his death by trusted Royal servants at Sandringham.
I found it surprising that I was unable to find very little other than a local newspaper article and a few reports in the Times of a Royal afternoon tea institution which appears to have been a fairly regular event throughout 1917 and 1918. However, an item about the visit of over 100 servicemen from an American Air Squadron on April 29, 1918, does add further information.
The King and Queen, who entertain weekly parties of Overseas soldiers at Windsor Castle, invited a party of officers and men from an American Air Squadron now quartered in the county to visit the Castle yesterday… At tea the party were waited on by ladies of the Royal Household under the superintendence of Princess Mary, who handed to each of the visitors a souvenir post-card. Each card was stamped with the Royal crown and the words, “From the King and Queen, 29th April, 1918. Windsor Castle”8
A visit of more interest to us was one paid by a party of Dominion soldier farmers – some 50 officers and men from Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand – who were shown around in May, 1919. These were all men interested in beef breeds and dairy strains and were being shown English farming practices while recuperating and awaiting return to their homelands. On this occasion, they were being taken around his Majesty’s pedigree cattle and dairy herds on the Royal farm at Windsor.
The cowsheds and the dairy on this farm were discussed. “I wouldn’t mind sleeping in that shed myself.” remarked a New Zealander. “Oh,” interjected an Australian, I have slept in far less pleasant quarters in France.”9
Dates on which the Windsor cachet is known to me to have been used include May 29, August 14 and August 28, 1917; February 19, April 29, July 9, July 23, August 13, October 810 and December 7, 1918, and May 17, 1919. All of these dates with the exception of the last are Tuesdays and, yes, the King and Queen were occasionally present.
And of course the reason so few, if any, were stamped and then posted is that they meant too much to their recipients to be sent through the mail as normal postcards. In an envelope, perhaps, but by second-class post? Not ruddy likely.
References
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I met my first From the King and Queen Windsor Castle postcard many years (decades) ago and at the time was very intrigued by it. The card was a rather dull artefact (a view of Windsor Castle, in murky sepia tones), but the handstamp on it appeared to represent some kind of presentation.
I had no idea, however, of the actual story behind it till I read the very fine article by the late Des Hurley in the New Zealand Stamp Collector in 2010. Des clearly put a lot of effort into researching the background to these cards and what he managed to uncover is very illuminating.
Several aspects of the story are worth emphasising:
To soldiers from these two hospitals, the journey to and from Windsor would have been a day’s outing. The other New Zealand hospitals, at Brockenhurst in Hampshire and Codford St Mary in Wiltshire, were considerable further away, southwest of London, although still only 80 miles or so distant from Windsor.
In my collection, I have four of these cards, and three of them bear dates additional to the list given at the end of Des Hurley’s article:
Like the dates given in the above article, the dates on my cards were all Tuesdays. My cards all depict various monochrome printed views (of not very good quality) of Windsor Castle and all state “Printed in England” or “British manufacture”. Before the war many of the viewcards available in Windsor would have been of German manufacture (and probably of much better printing quality).
I also have three of the invitation cards described in the above article, each with the oval cachet (in violet) of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, Windsor Castle (and with his printed facsimile signature). The cachets bear the dates 20 MAR 1917, 4 JUN 1918 (below), and 11 FEB 1919 (predictably all Tuesdays). The cards bear the royal arms embossed in gold at the top. The invitation card illustrated by Des Hurley has “AFTERNOON” printed at upper right, but all of mine are “MORNING”.
Invitation card and reverse. Note stamp no 105.
Other Invitations are dated
20 MAR 1917 (stamped 89) and 11 FEB 1919(stamped 100)
So possibly each Tuesday there were separate morning and afternoon events. Each lasted two hours. Two of my cards are signed “Alice” (i.e Princess Alice), one in ink, one in pencil. The highest invitation number seen is No 105. On the back of each card is an instruction to present the invitation to be stamped before admission to the state apartments. Presumably the stamp was the Lord Chamberlain’s oval handstamp.
Princess Alice appears to have been a stalwart among the royals, judging by how frequently she figures in the soldiers’ comments. She lived to the ripe old age of 98, dying in 1981. I have searched in vain for a portrait of her among my postcards of British royalty.
I was, however, able to find Princess Mary. She appears bottom centre of the coloured card entitled “The Crown and its Jewels.” The portraits are of the King and Queen and their six children. This card was given away with the Coronation Number (17/6/1911) of Horner’s Penny Stories.
The real photo card is somewhat earlier (showing Prince John as a baby) and is postmarked in April 1907. Princess Mary appears between Albert (later King George VI) and Henry.
At this time their pater was still Prince of Wales. The Sandringham estate was, I presume, the family’s residence at the time.
Mary would have been about 20 at the time when she hosted wounded soldiers at Windsor Castle and Alice would have been in her 30s.
Another First World War royal presentation card I have (not a postcard, but of postcard dimensions) dates from Christmas 1914 (the first Christmas of the War).
The photos of the royal couple are printed appropriately in sombre sepia tones (no doubt by an English printer!)
I suspect these cards were presented to all British troops serving on active service as a Christmas gift (perhaps as part of a gift package?), though not to colonial troops, who still hadn’t arrived in England.
So far as I know, this precedent was not repeated in the following years of the War.
Can anyone confirm or refute any of these suppositions?
The following postcards depict World War One New Zealand Military Hospitals in England (from which the Windsor Castle “tourists” would have come).
Part of the N.Z. No. 2 General Hospital at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. This building, called Oatlands, was part of the complex and was a hotel before the war. Two wounded soldiers can be seen in front, one in a wheel chair and one in a wheeled wickerwork cot. The hospital, which housed N.Z. No 6 Stationary Army Post Office, operated here from July 1916 to June 1919.
Another view of N.Z. No. 2 General Hospital at Walton-on-Thames, taken apparently from the back of one of the main buildings. By 1918 the hospital accommodated 1900 patients and staff, and many of these were housed in temporary wooden annexes like this.
The main building of N.Z. No. 1 General Hospital at Brockenhurst in Hampshire (not far from the port at Southampton, where many of the wounded from France were disembarked). This also had been a hotel before the war (the “Balmer Lawn Hotel” sign is still in place). Several large private houses were also taken over as part of the hospital. It operated from July 1916 to January 1919 and could accommodate a total of 1600 patients. New Zealand No. 2 Stationary Army Post Office operated from this hospital.
A view inside one of the temporary wards at Brockenhurst. Facilities for the patients look very basic. Despite their injuries and the fairly basic arrangements, many patients were probably relieved to be out of the hell of the trenches.
A ward at the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital, Hornchurch, Essex. Apparently it’s Christmas! Once again the ward looks like a temporary structure. Presumably, most of these annexes were dismantled when the properties returned to civilian use after the War.
Grey Towers was the main building in the Hornchurch hospital complex. Before it became a hospital in June 1916, it had been, for a short period, the New Zealand Army General Base Depot in England. This photo dates from that period. The hospital housed the New Zealand No. 4 Stationary Army Post Office from July 1916 to March 1919.
Black & White silk card“ Fabrication francaise – E.D” on reverse
Edith Cavell was born in 1865 at Swardeston in Norfolk, England, where her father, the Reverend Frederick Cavell, was a vicar for forty-five years. On leaving school, Edith became a governess in Brussels before she trained as a nurse at the Royal London Hospital.
In 1907 she was appointed Matron of the Berkendael Institute in Brussels, where she established a nursing training school that opened in October 1907. When World War I broke out the hospital was taken over by the Belgium Red Cross.
Following the outbreak of war she turned her skills from the administration of nursing to the nursing care of the wounded and the maimed. She made no distinction in her ministering to German or Allied soldiers.
Paul Heckscher, Editeur, Paris. Silk card with insert of Edith bottom right
Edith Cavell’s cell at St. Gilles Prison
Arrest and Trial
At first Edith was reluctant and cautious helping the British soldiers because she knew there would be harsh penalties if she were caught.
Initially, Cavell did not tell her nurses or her assistant what she was doing, but it became apparent to them that something was going on. Her illicit activities could not be kept from the German authorities.
She was arrested on the 3rd August 1915 and the authorities questioned Edith at length about her activities. She did not conceal the truth from them and she was charged with treason, not espionage.
Three months after her initial imprisonment she and 34 others were finally given a trial.
At the conclusion no sentences were read out, instead the prisoners were taken back to their cells.
Execution
The German civil governor in Brussels favoured pardoning Edith as she helped save both German and Allied lives. The German field officers however, would suffer no political interference and they acted quickly before higher authorities might exercise clemency. A few hours after the conclusion of the trial she and her fellow prisoners had their death sentences read out with the notification that the penalty would be carried out the following day at dawn. She was fifty years of age.
A Laureys postcard. Photo and description of Edith Cavell’s execution on reverse. (See next page for reverse of card)
St. Gillis Cemetery, Belgium
Edith was only one of many civilians shot by the Germans. Sixteen men in two firing squads executed her and four Belgians. The five bodies were buried immediately and her grave was amongst the others who were executed with her.
A postcard features the memorial plaque listing those shot, with Edith’s name on the left-hand side, fourth from the top.
Body Exhumed
After the war ended her body was exhumed and transported to Britain for a formal state funeral at Westminster Abbey, and then transferral to Norwich for a final resting place at Life’s Green.
A naval destroyer brought the coffin from Belgium on the 14th of May 1919 to Dover Harbour. It was draped with the Red Cross flag and placed on a gun carriage.
Transportation to England
Final Resting Place
A state funeral was held in London on the 15th of May 1919.
Her coffin was transported to Norwich Cathedral where King George V and Queen Mary laid wreaths at the gravesite.
Beagle & Co. Postcards. Nos 165.Z. & 165.Y. Photos by Central News
Visit of their Majesties, the King and Queen of England to the Edith CAVELL Memorial. Ringoet, Bruxelles card.
The inscription reads: “Edith Cavell. Died Oct 12th 1915”. Card by Hayward Kidd, Norwich
Instant Martyr
From the moment of her death, Edith Cavell became recognised as a nurse martyr and patriot, as well as the best-known British female casualty of World War I.
The British propaganda machine subsequently issued cards and labels widely publicising her execution by the Germans.
Her gender helped in her portrayal as a martyr and throughout Great Britain and commonwealth countries there are many Edith Cavell memorials including named streets, mountains, hospital wings, entire buildings, and in New Zealand the Edith Cavell Bridge situated over the Shotover River.
The camp at Tapawera was first used by the Nelson Volunteers’ Forces in the late 19th Century. The first camp of the 12th Nelson regiment was held at Easter, from the 30th of March to the 7th of April 1912. The men came from the Marlborough and Nelson districts. Total strength was: 1,024 All Ranks, 621 Infantry, 246 Mounted Rifles, 64 Gunners, 17 Officers, also Medics, Engineers, Farriers, Cooks, Clergy etc. The commanding officer was Lt. Col. William Bryant.
Daily Routine: 6am Reville – hot coffee and biscuits. 6.30am Parade. 7.30am Breakfast – potato pie, bread, butter and jam. 9am Daily Instruction in squad drill, physical training. Musketry and care of arms, semaphore signalling, trench digging etc. 12 noon Lunch – cold meat, bread, butter and jam. 5.30pm Dinner – corned beef, carrots, potatoes, bread and cheese. 9.30pm First Post. 10pm Lights Out.
Social Side Of Camp: The Nelson Ministers’ Association supplied games and literature. Movie pictures were shown at the Druids’ Hall in the Tapawera township. Sports meetings were held prior to breaking camp. Included at these meetings were: Tug o War, wheelbarrow race, most original fancy dress, sack race, spar boxing, kit competition, blindfold boxing, obstacle race, band contest, football match, booby prize.
Transportation To The Camp: The following information was taken from The Nelson Evening Mail, 21st April 1914.
“The Marlborough contingent of infantry will arrive on Thursday morning from Picton by the Pateena, and will leave by special train after breakfast at the Drill Shed for Tapawera. They will be accompanied by the band of the 10th Mounted Regiment.
The infantry from the Golden Bay and Motueka districts will arrive on Thursday.
Men from Brightwater, Spring Grove, Wakefield, Wai-iti, Foxhill, Belgrove and Kohatu will travel to Tapawera by special train on Thursday afternoon. The Tapawera and Rakau men are to parade at the Tapawera railway platform, and will march into camp with the troops arriving by the special train.
The “H” Battery, N.Z.F.A., will proceed to camp by train on Saturday. The guns have already gone on: and the horses will be taken by road early on Saturday morning.
Men from Glenhope, Kiwi, Tui, Kaka and Tadmore will travel by the ordinary train from Glenhope on Friday. The men from outlying districts away from the railway will make their own arrangements to join the train, and on production of a receipt will be repaid any out-of-pocket expenses by the adjutant in camp.
A motor lorry on Thursday from Rai Falls will pick up the men between there and Nelson, and bring them into town to join the Nelson, Motueka and Golden Bay men, and they will leave by special train on Thursday afternoon, picking up the Stoke, Richmond and Appleby men en route.
The A Company, Nelson, will parade at the Drill Shed at 4pm.
The band of the 12th Regiment will not go into camp until Saturday.
The mounted men from Blenheim, Takaka and Motueka are making their own arrangements to reach camp.
Snippets From the Nelson Evening Mail
13th July 1914
Territorial Prosecutions: Maurice Wm. Fisher, who has attended only one parade this year out of four, pleaded guilty, but blamed a “bad cold” for his lapse from duty. Fined 25/6d. Costs 7 shillings.
13th July 1914
A laudable desire on parade night to induce a splinter of wood to part company with his finger nail by the good old-fashioned way of poulticing the injured digit, so impressed the bench that the charge against Harold N. Schwass for failing to attend parade was dismissed.
3rd April 1915
On Wednesday evening the Rev Spencer, Secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society gave a lecture on “The Bible and the War”.
24th April 1915
The milk in one of the tents was found to be frozen in the morning. But everyone was bright and happy, and after breakfast the striking of the camp went on merrily.
17th July 1914
At the Magistrate Court this morning, before Mr. J.S. Evans, S.M., Chas. M. Bell, Walter Black, Don MacKenzie, Robt. Heath, members of the Territorial Force, were charged with having on May 11th 1914, travelled in a railway carriage of a class superior to that for which they were provided with a ticket, and refusing to pay the fare for the superior class on demand. The offence was alleged to have occurred between Nelson and Tapawera, while the camp for casuals was being held.
“OUR TERRITORIALS”
{Taken from the Nelson Evening Mail 21st April 1915}
Khaki-clad of Tapawera,
Men of metal, men of muscle;
Men who prize their brown regalia,
Men who love a friendly tussle;
Ringing, swinging, clearing, cheering,
Always to the fore.
Khaki-clad who serve our Empire,
Men of daring, men of duty,
Men begot by noble sire,
Men enhanced by home and beauty;
Laughing, chaffing, sporting, courting,
Always to the fore.
Khaki-clad in times of fighting,
Men of cunning, men of action,
Men whose rifles ever biting;
Men who never give a fraction,
Shouting, routing, reckless, speckles,
Always to the fore.
Khaki-clad, your country’s calling,
Men of your type, men of your stamp,
Men who are not afraid of falling;
Men who stand the sleepless long tramp,
Daily, gaily, willing, killing,
Come then, join the ranks.
ANONYMOUS
Tapawera Camp
The Regimental Emblem featuring a stag and crown was first placed on the hill above the Tapawera camp in the period 1924 – 1928. It was made of stones and painted with whitewash. This was repeated during each successive camp.
It represents the Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast 12th and 13th Regiments (1923-1964).
The emblem was well maintained up until the Second World War, but then gradually disappeared after 1945.
In 2013 Maurie Taylor, a local military enthusiast, decided to reinstate the emblem on the hill for the Centennial celebrations of World War One. Volunteers and Territorial troops moved several tonne of rock into place on this steep slope to recreate the emblem.
Conclusion The camps continued through the 1930’s and into the Second World War – 1940’s. The practical advantage of the railway (it reached Tapawera in 1904) and relatively barren farmland, with no distraction, made Tapawera an ideal location. Today (2014) the old military camp is still farmland. The old Druids’ Hall is still standing. The railway closed in 1955.
Tapawera Camp 1916. F.N. Jones, Nelson Photographer 1904 – 1930’s
Tapawera Camp 1914. J.J. Cameron, Wakefield Photographer 1913 – 1914
Mounted Troops {Motueka} riding to Tapawera Camp 1912. Bridle, Motueka Photographer 1912 – 1940’s
At the Stores. Tapawera Camp 1915. Robinson, Nelson Photographer 1914 – 1915
Tapawera Camp Gun laying practice 1915. Robinson, Nelson Photographer 1914 – 1915
Tapawera Camp 1916 Military Police. F.N. Jones, Nelson Photographer 1904 – 1930’s
Regimental Emblem at Tapawera 1924 – 1945 Restored 2013
In the century before World War 1, the provision of decent care for soldiers at war had become a recognised humanitarian issue, as well as a practical concern for army commanders. By World War One, wounded combatants on all sides were treated by dedicated army medical services, who applied increasingly modern medical techniques.
Hygiene and Sanitation
The mobilisation of millions of men meant a daunting task for preventative medicine. The static, overcrowded conditions of trench warfare were an obvious breeding ground for disease. Yet when combatants combined inoculation against epidemic diseases such as typhoid, with strictly enforced measures to ensure good hygiene and sanitation – as did British and German forces on the Western Front – disease levels were remarkably low. Where hygiene and sanitation broke down, as they did among troops at Gallipoli and among the Russians on the Eastern Front, the ensuing epidemics killed thousands.
One that got through! Trench dead in World War One. Strict censorship ensured that only sanitised images were made available to the general public. This privately taken postcard was printed upon return of the troops to England.
Trench fever, a disease spread by lice, defied attempts to suppress it. Other persistent medical problems were trench foot, caused by damp, and frostbite, both severely disabling conditions that could lead to amputations. The outbreak of “Spanish Influenza” in the last year of the war – inexplicable and untreatable by medicine at the time – caused large-scale losses among soldiers that continued into peacetime.
From First Aid to Amputation
To deal with combat casualties, a co-ordinated system was needed that stretched from the battlefields back to base hospitals far from the front. The German army entered the war with such a system in place; other countries caught up under the pressure of war. Treatment started as first aid on the battlefield. Officers and men often carried field dressings and painkillers, sometimes including morphine tablets. Stretcher-bearers braved fire to bring the wounded to an advanced dressing station, where they were sorted – hopeless cases were left to die, those superficially wounded were directed back to their units. The seriously wounded were loaded onto ambulances and taken to a casualty clearing station, a set of tents or huts where emergency treatment, including surgery, was carried out. During a major battle, a clearing station might handle a thousand cases a day. The wounded were then transferred to a base hospital by train.
A number of Red Cross ambulances stationed near the front line to receive the wounded after they have been given first aid. A “Passed by Censor” Daily Mail Official War Picture Series (series 14 no. 107)
Wounded men’s chances of survival depended upon the speed and efficiency of the medical evacuation process and the quality of care they received during it. Providing timely tetanus jabs, for example, reduced the rate of tetanus infection among British wounded from around a third in 1914 to almost zero by the war’s end.
World War One weaponry caused wounds that were appalling in both number and severity. Field surgeons, operating for up to 16 hours per day during a major offensive, resorted freely to amputation of limbs as the best hope for many of the wounded.
The number of men wounded in all armies during World War One totalled 19 million!
The use of anaesthetics was long-established and, by the later stages of the war, procedures to limit post-operative infection were as effective as could be achieved in the absence of antibiotics, which were not available until World War 2. A major innovation was the widespread use of blood transfusion, a life-saving procedure that became a practical proposition through the use of anti-coagulants and refrigeration, allowing the blood to be stored instead of transferred person-to-person. The prevalence of facial wounds saw progress in plastic surgery. Specialist hospitals were established for the reconstruction of faces. American surgeons in particular made advances in this field, although permanent disfigurement remained the fate of thousands.
The estimated number of amputations performed during World War One was 500,000.
Shell Shock
Casualties suffered mental as well as physical trauma. Psychiatric medicine was becoming increasingly accepted in the early 20th century, and disturbed behaviour as a result of combat stress was recognised as a medical problem. The German army was broadly up to date with this modern thinking, but to many British and French army commanders “shell-shock” seemed a sign of weakness. It is not true that men suffering mental collapse were routinely executed as cowards, although there were probably a few cases of this. As the war went on, all combatants established psychiatric wards and hospitals. Therapy ranged from analysis of in-depth mental problems to crude electric-shock treatment.
New Zealand wounded recuperating in an English Hospital
Treating the Wounded
Nurses were among the heroes of the conflict. As one British nurse commented:
“It is ….always like this in a field hospital. Just ambulances rolling in, and dirty, dying men….”
Established bodies of military nurses were too small to cope with the scale of war, so there was a demand for volunteers, such as the British Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurses, or the 3,000 women who became Nursing Sisters in the Canadian Army. Often from sheltered backgrounds, they coped astonishingly well with the task of tending severely wounded men.
Red Cross
With the outbreak of World War 1, the International Council of the Red Cross (ICRC) found itself confronted with enormous challenges that it could handle only by working closely with national Red Cross societies. Red Cross nurses from round the world, including the U.S. and Japan, came to support the medical services of the armed forces of the European countries involved in the war. On 15th October 1914, immediately after the start of the war, the ICRC set up its International Prisoner of War Agency, which had about 1,200 mostly volunteer staff by the end of 1914. By the end of the war, the Agency had transferred around 20 million letters, 1.9 million parcels, and about 18 million Swiss francs in monetary donations to POWs of all affected countries. Furthermore, due to the intervention of the Agency, about 200,000 prisoners were exchanged between the warring parties, released from captivity, and returned to their home country.
During the entire war, the ICRC monitored warring parties’ compliance with the Geneva Conventions and forwarded complaints about violations to the respective country. When chemical weapons were used in this war for the first time in history, the ICRC vigorously protested against this new type of warfare.
Between 1916 and 1918, the ICRC published a number of postcards with scenes from the POW camps. The pictures show prisoners in day-to-day activities such as the distribution of letters from home. The intention of the ICRC was to provide the families of prisoners with some hops and relieve their uncertainties about the fate of their loved ones.
In 1917, a year before the end of the war, the ICRC received the Nobel Peace Prize for its outstanding war effort. It was the only Peace Prize awarded in the 1914-1918 period.
Prisoner of war message from Germany (English prisoner)
Prisoner of war message from France (German prisoner)
Attractive stylised images were very popular with the public, and gave a softer view to a tragic and terrible time of countless injuries and death.
1915 French card celebrating the role of Red Cross Nurses during World War One.
German postcard of an officer visiting a nurse at a convalescent hospital, 1916.
