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ANZAC stories from Plimmerton School students in Mana syndicate.

• ANZAC Day is important to me because my great grandfather was in the war and his family missed him so much and were proud of him. Tyla
• I think ANZAC Day is important because I can think back and imagine the people who were so brave and died in the war. My great granddads went into the war and one came back and one didn't. Grace
• ANZAC Day is important to me because it is a day I can look up into the sky and silently thank the people who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Jessica
• ANZAC Day is important to me because my dad's dad went to World War 2 and he came back alive. ANZAC Day is important to me because I can remember the people who went to war. Joshua
• ANZAC Day is important to me because they sacrificed their lives for us and I like to stand next to the memorial and remember the soldiers who fell. Izzy

Krithia - A Plimmerton Story by Allan Dodson

There have been stories about German spies operating in Plimmerton; this month's story is about 65 Moana Road, 'Krithia'.

Porirua City Council’s document Heritage Trails, Plimmerton Promenade, lists: ‘Krithia c1915 – This house is significant for two main reasons. The stone wall and outbuildings are on section C of the heritage register. The out buildings (many of which have already gone), were made of local beach stone by a German sea captain. He lived here for many years and was a founding member of the Plimmerton Boating Club. He had a powerful telescope and used to spend many hours in a hut on the flat area above the house, looking out to sea. Local legend has it that the hut was closed down during the 1st and 2nd world war because of fears of German spies.[1] 

When it was proposed to have a railway connection from the main rail track to a port at Hongoeka a large area of land in Karehana Bay was purchased by Sir George Troup and Mr Moore.[2]  Around 1890, a tramway was constructed from Plimmerton railway station to Karehana Bay and Hongoeka to remove boulders from the beaches. The port never eventuated so once the requirements for boulders finished parcels of this land were sold off.

In 1912 there was a large auction of sections in Karehana Bay and one of these vacant sections, listed as Lot 2, would become 65 Moana Road. [3]

In August 1893 Henry Butler France married Louise Theodora Frechtling the eldest daughter of Carl Frechtling, a tailor, who had emigrated from Germany with his family and had been naturalised in 1890. Louise was born in Germany and may have spoken with an accent.

Is this the German connection?

It was after 1893 that both Henry France and Carl Frechtling moved to Levin, a town that, like Plimmerton, was named after a director of Manawatu & Wellington Railway. Levin had been established in 1886 when the railway connected the area to both Palmerston North and Wellington.

Henry France now a farmer and carpenter, was prominent in Levin, being one of the first borough councillors in 1906 and also involved in the Horowhenua Boating Club. If Henry France purchased the property 1914/1915, as suggested, it is possible that 65 Moana Road was originally a beach dwelling as it was not until 1920 that Henry France is listed as permanently living in Plimmerton.[6]  The present owners of 65 Moana Road indicate that during renovations different phases of building were uncovered.  In 1923 Henry France was involved in the establishment of the Plimmerton Boating Club and maintained a strong interest in it until his death in 1945. Between 1942–1944, Henry Butler France was the commodore of the Plimmerton Boating Club.

Through the 1920-1940’s, Henry Butler France wrote many letters to the editor of the Evening Post about what was happening in the sea off Karehana Bay. This interest in the sea may well have required a large telescope, he also meets other criteria, as a builder, founding member of the Plimmerton Boating Club... so is he the “Spy at Krithia”

'Krithia', 65 Moana Road - photo by Allan Dodson

So where did the name Krithia come from?

We do know that the family was using it in 1944 when Henry and Louise celebrated their golden wedding at the house.[7] 

Henry and Louise only had one son George Carl France, born 30 May 1894. George was a carpenter working in Levin when World War One was declared and he enlisted in the Wellington Infantry Brigade. As 10/346 Private France, he was in the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force when it sailed in October 1914 for overseas service. Private France’s service record [8] is unclear but the Wellington Infantry Brigade landed at ANZAC Cove, 25 April 1915, and was in action in this sector until 5 May 1915. Then, along with other New Zealand Infantry Brigades, the Wellington Infantry Brigade was moved to the Helles area at the southern end of the Gallipoli Peninsula. The Wellington Infantry Battalion was in action on 8 May 1915 in the Second Battle of Krithia. Allied forces attempted to take the village of Krithia and the crest Achi Baba. It was frontal assault in full daylight and the Wellington Battalion struggled a few hundred meters before being brought to a halt in the killing ground of ‘Daisy Patch'. The New Zealand casualties were 800 and of those killed 48 were from the Wellington Brigade. [9]

Private France was a causality of this battle, being reported in newspapers as evacuated to Malta arriving 17 May 1915. [10]  There is nothing in Private France's service record to indicate the nature of his wounds, but they do note that in July 1915, he was still at Malta but progressing satisfactorily.

It was not until January 1916 that Private France was considered to be fit again for active duties, rejoining the Wellington Infantry Battalion in Egypt, before transferring to the Field Ambulance service. Private France went on to serve in France and would have been involved in New Zealand’s battles at Somme, Messines and Passchendaele.

In the battle of Passchendaele in October 1917, the muddy conditions made it impossible to use wheeled vehicles. Teams of six bearers spent up to seven hours battling knee deep mud to carry the wounded between three and five kilometres to a dressing station. [11]

Stretcher Bearers Passchendaele 1917: Imperial War Museum Q5935

The ongoing impact of active service resulted in Private France being evacuated sick from France in January 1918, and until his return to New Zealand in February 1919, he was in and out of hospitals in England. George Carl France returned to Levin and later served in World War Two in the Levin Battalion of the Home Guard. George would die in Levin on 14 April 1977.

It is understandable that Henry and Louise France would have named the house at 65 Moana Road ‘Krithia’, because of their son’s involvement in the Battle of Krithia and the impact this would have had on the family.

In the early 1970’s a member of the France family, George’s granddaughter [12] told the author that the house was named after the wife of a German sea captain. Many returning servicemen from both WW1 and WW2 were reluctant to talk about their experiences in the wars. Was this a story told by George so he would not have to recount the tales of his time in Gallipoli and France and so helped create the legend?

[1] – Porirua City Heritage Trails – Plimmerton Promenade 1999

[2] – Plimmerton Boating Club online - history 

[3] – 1912 Subdivisional Plan of Plimmerton Extension, JH Bethune & Co: PRA Collection

[4] – Golden Wedding, France – Frechtling – Evening Post 28 August 1944

[5] – Obituary Henry Butler France – Evening Post 16 July 1945

[6] - Plimmerton Listings – Wises Directory; Wellington, Taranaki & Hawkes Bay

[7] - Golden Wedding, France-Frechtling-Evening Post 28 August 1944

[8] – 10/346 Private George Carl France- Military Service Record, New Zealand Archives

[9] - Second Battle of Krithia, NZ History online

[10] - Causalty lists, Evening Post 17 May 1915

[11] - Charles Begg-NZ History online

[12] - unsource oral history De Castro / Dodson 1970’s.

Next month’s story will outline the two sea captains living in Plimmerton during

1914 – 1930 and their possible involvement with the “Plimmerton Spies”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

There is a Plimmerton legend that in First and Second World Wars spies were operating in the Plimmerton area.

So how has this legend developed?

On 5 August 1914 New Zealand declared war on Germany and three weeks later, 29 August 1914, New Zealand forces landed in German Samoa to take this enemy territory.[1]

The rapid military action was matched with patriotic public fervour with anti German feelings running high. In New Zealand, the fervour did not go as far as kicking Dachshunds (German sausage dogs) in the streets [2] but there were reports of German owned property having windows broken and people considered to be German hassled and assaulted.[3] The government moved quickly with the Motiu/Somes Island internment camp being set up in August 1914. Three hundred enemy aliens, those considered to be a risk to New Zealand's security, were interned including a number of men who had been living in New Zealand for years, were naturalised and had NZ born families. [4]

Even with the internments people who were considered foreign, like the Vella's from Paremata, would have been treated with suspicion.

Mariano Vella had arrived in NZ in 1878 from Dalmatia, at that stage Dalmatia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Mariano started life in NZ as a fisherman, then first married an English wife in 1886 and began farming Mana Island. Mariano was naturalised in 1896 and by 1909 was able to retire, returning to the home of his second wife on Lussin Island in the Adriatic Sea. The island had a predominately Italian population but was still within the then Austro-Hungarian Empire. Mariano, wife and children would not return to Plimmerton until 1915 so it was his NZ born eldest sons who remained in NZ and were farming Mana Island in 1914.[5] These two sons had been in 1904 among the founding pupils at Plimmerton's first school.[6]

In Plimmerton - a Colourful History a 'Detective Bailey of Lambton Quay unravelled this web of intrigue to find a group of highly respected naturalised citizens going about their day to day business.'[8]

Also, in the oral history of Plimmerton, K Collinson mentions, 'During WW1, some rowdy revellers found the small shop run by two Italian women was closed. The two women had closed in panic thinking that there was an attack on Mike Sarcich, the popular Austrian carrier who lived nearby. They feared the attackers might move on to them as foreigners even though Italy was an ally in the war while Austria was the enemy.'[9]

While there were no German spies on Mana, next month we will investigate the local legend of a German sea captain and his large telescope watching the Cook Strait from 'Krithia', Karehana Bay.

Story by Allan Dodson for September 2012

[1] NZ and the First World War: NZ History Online

[2] Outbreak of War: Purnell's History of World War One

[3] Damage to property and looting: Poverty Bay Herald, 17 May 1915

[4] Somes Prisoners - Enemies Within: A Study of NZ Home Front during WW1

[5] Vella Mariano; Te Ara - Dictionary of NZ Biography

[6] 100 years, Plimmerton School 1904 - 2004

[7] 'The Cheeky Emden', Wairarapa Daily Times, 25 September 1914

[8] Plimmerton - A Colourful History; Bob Maysmor (Pataka)

[9] Plimmerton - A Colourful History; Bob Maysmor (Pataka)

Deryck Barron was born 29 November 1919 son of Harold Stephen and Fanny Borthwick Barron of Lower Hutt. The Barron family took their holidays at Plimmerton and the family were involved in local yachting.  The Barron Cup was presented to the Plimmerton Boating Club in 1931 for competition between Plimmerton and Paremata in Rona-Jellicoe class boats.[1]  Deryck sailed for Plimmerton as a youth and in 1938 crewed with A Edginton to retain the Cornwall Cup for the Club.[2]

In 1938 Deryck Barron was working in Wellington for the New Zealand Shipping Company Limited as a shipping clerk, when he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (Wellington - New Zealand Division) as a cadet seaman with the service number W/3696.[3]

With the outbreak of World War Two, New Zealand Reserves were mobilised. Deryck Barron was called up, reporting to HMNZS Philomel as Able Seaman Barron on 18 April 1940. He was in the first batch of New Zealand Naval Reserves, in response to the British Admiralty call to the New Zealand government for more sailors to man the increasing number of warships being brought into service.[4]  His service record notes he was ‘Lent Royal Navy’ arriving in England 1 May 1940. Able Seaman Barron was initially attached to the shore training establishment HMS Victory then to HMS Phoebe, finally to HMS Neptune in September 1941.[5]

It was intended that New Zealand would provide a crew for HMS Neptune and this Leander-class light cruiser would serve alongside HMS Achilles and HMS Leander. HMS Neptune was originally due to sail for New Zealand in May 1941 but the loss of cruisers during the Crete campaign meant HMS Neptune was attached to the Malta based Force K.[6]

While HMS Neptune was in Alexandria, Egypt, she was visited by a unit of the New Zealand National Broadcasting (NBS) on 13 November 1941 when messages from the officers and men on board were recorded.  Only 10 percent of the crew were selected, by ballot, to record messages to their friends and families. Deryck Barron was one of those selected. These messages were recorded onto discs to be sent back to New Zealand for broadcast in a weekly programme called ‘With the Boys Overseas'.[7]

The HMS Neptune messages were timed for Christmas 1941. It is possible that none of the messages would have been heard by the families at home because on the morning of 19 December 1941, HMS Neptune hit enemy mines off the coast of Libya and sank. Only one of the crew of 764 survived this incident. The loss of the HMS Neptune was New Zealand's Navy’s worst disaster with 151 of the crew being from New Zealand.[8]

At the 1948 Annual General Meeting of the Plimmerton Boating Club it was resolved "to acquire a suitable boat with engine for pick-up and general rescue work". This rescue boat was built by Shetland Islander, Jock McCallum, of Abel Smith Street, Wellington, the design based on an original lifeboat. Named the Deryck Barron, the rescue craft was launched 19 November 1949, crewed originally by Frank Newman, Fred Jobson & Fred Sellens.[9]

[1] 1931 December 30 - Evening Post

[2] 1938 January 01 - Evening Post

[3] 1938 October 18 - Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve form - W/3696 Barron Alexander Deryck

[4] NZ History on Line - New Zealand at War

[5] 1940 - Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve form - W/3696 Barron Alexander Deryck

[6] NZ History on Line - HMS Neptune

[7] Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Nga Taonga Korero - 1941 HMS Neptune

[8] NZ History on Line - HMS Neptune

[9] Plimmerton Boating Club website - history

• Old Plimmerton School trophy found and restored - story by  Kris Dando Kapi-Mana News, 11 December 2012
  

• Local historian Allan Dodson tells the story of the Webb Memorial Trophy to the Plimmerton School assembly. The Webb Memorial Cup is restored and returned to Plimmerton School - read more of the story. 
  

Webb Memorial Cup - story by Allan Dodson

Battered with the cup no longer fitting to the base the Webb Memorial Trophy was found in a box with other old cups and shields but for fifty years, 1921 - 1972 the Webb Memorial Cup was presented to pupils at Plimmerton School.

The Webb Memorial Trophy was original presented to Plimmerton School in 1921 in the memory of Arthur Llewellyn Webb a student teacher killed during the Battle of the Somme. See previous story, The Webb Memorial Cup.

Originally the Memorial Cup was to be presented to the student ‘who stands highest in general merit, consideration being given, not only to school work, but also to punctuality, cleanliness, good manners, sport and popularity’. The cup later was awarded to the school dux runner up. The Memorial Cup was first awarded in 1921 and continued to be awarded through to 1972 when the Webb Memorial Cup and a number of other school trophies were no longer presented.

The history behind the cup was forgotten until recent research led to the cup being indentified from others in a box. It is now being used by the school in the celebration of ANZAC Day. It is hoped to restore the Webb Memorial Trophy to its original condition.

1921 Joyce Stubbs

1922 Mary Beckett

1923 Sybil Pack & Edna Young

1924 Orviss Thomson

1925 Eric Norton

1926 Molly Brady

1927 Ethne Carpenter & Edna Buckland

1928 Kenneth Pickering

1929 Jean Firth

1930 Dorothy Martin

1931 Ethel Ford

1932 Godfrey Firth

1933 Ivan Wills

1934   Rhyna Edginton

1935   Kahu Kotua

1936   Thomas Johnson

1937   Mavis MacDonald

1938   Ron Barlow & George McDermid

1939   Heather McDermid

1940   Marie Denman

1941   Betty Shallcrass

1942   Norma Shallcrass

1943   Ian Cumberworth

1944   Robert Ross

1945   Doreen Devereux

1946   Bryan Newport

1947   Claire Patching

1948   Judith Simmonds

1949   Carol Tovey

1950   Sylvia Everitt

1951   Marie Lee

1952   Ivan Bowater

1953   Barry Shaw

1954   Denise Earl

1955   John Robertson

1956   Susan Fawke

1957   Not known

1958   Not known

1959   Not known

1960   Not Known

1961   Not known

1962   Not known

1963   Penny Hughes

1964   Margaret Perry

1965   Ruth Warburton & Brenda Pearson

1966   Shirley Roberts

1967   James Matthewson

1968   Glen Rowe

1969   Chris Collins

1970   Leigh Steele

1971   John Duggan

1972   Fiona McConchie

Barber / Baker (The underage recruit)

It took three names and three attempts for one of two brothers to finally serve on the Western Front.

With the declaration of war in 1914, thousands of New Zealand men came forward as volunteers to do what was right by ‘queen and country’. The minimum age of enlistment was 20 years and the maximum of 38 so many eager potential soldiers ‘adjusted’ their age to suit and ‘when the would-be recruit seemed a well grown, healthy fellow, the recruiting officer did not insist on the age limit being reached or winked the other eye when a youth of 18 or 19 – there have been many as low as 17 – calmly “attested” as being the full twenty.’ ‘Any youth who, after this, may get into camp will if he is discovered be court- martialled at once for supplying false information on his attestation form and be dismissed.’[i]

John Nicolas Barber was born 1 September 1897. He is listed as starting at Plimmerton School in 1906,[ii] and on 22 October 1915 Nicolas Barber (note he had dropped his first name) of Paremata attested at Trentham for the C Squadron of the Wellington Mounted Rifles – stating on his paperwork that his date of birth as 5 September 1894 and his employment as a farm hand working for Mr Vella, also of Paremata. In his medical file he is described as Roman Catholic, 5 foot 4 inches, fit, with brown hair and grey eyes, 145 pounds and a chest measurement of 32 inches. [iii]

Initially taken onto the rolls as #16369, Trooper Barber of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles was due to sail for overseas service on 5 December 1915. However, this file simply notes that on 8 November 1915 he was dismissed as being under aged.  The nominal roll for the NZ Mounted Rifles indicates that his next of kin was Mrs E Barber of Plimmerton. [iv]

In 27 November 1915, a Joseph Barber attested for the Mounted Rifles, giving his address as the Plimmerton Post Office, his date of birth as 5 September 1895 and his employment as a Railway Cadet. In his medical file he is described as Roman Catholic, 5 foot 3 inches, fit, with brown hair and blue eyes, 140 pounds and a chest measurement of 31 inches.[v] It appears that he was not accepted as there is no record of Joseph Barber being taken onto the rolls of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces.

On 5 May 1916, a Joseph Baker attested for the Wellington Infantry Brigade, giving his address as Plimmerton, being a farmhand  employed by a Mr Williams, his date of birth as 15 December 1895. In his medical he is described as Roman Catholic, 5 foot 4 inches. Fit, with brown hair and blue eyes, 140 pounds and a chest measurement of 32 inches. His father John Baker, of Newtown, Wellington is listed as next of kin.[vi]

#22223 Private Baker, 16^th Reinforcements, J Company, Wellington Infantry Brigade departed for overseas service 20 August 1916. Private Baker arrived in England in October 1916 and spent a month training before heading to France on 15 November 1916 however, his service record shows that he was admitted to hospital in France 17 November 1916 and the service sheet then indicates the Private Baker was in and out of a number of hospitals with serious complications.

On 19 February 1917 the Wellington Evening Post reported the following ‘Advice was received on Saturday by Mr J Barber, that his youngest son Private Joseph Barber of the NZEF is lying seriously ill at the General Hospital, Etaples, France.’[vii]

Initally returned to New Zealand as medically unfit Private Baker was finally discharged on 1 May 1918 for being under aged and his service record notes that 15 May 1918 a statutory declaration was made by Joseph Baker that he was in fact Joseph Barber and all military papers, apart from Nicolas Barber, were then filed under his service record #222223 Private Joseph Baker.

Joseph Barber was born 8 May 1900[viii] and was not yet 16 when he enlisted. Joseph with his elder brother John Nicolas Barber is listed as attended Plimmerton School in 1906.

There are few records of the brothers after the war, Joseph Barber was awarded the British Empire & Victory medals and is also listed on a plaque at St Annes, Pauhatanui as Joe Barber, he may have moved permanently to Australia as in 1967 he requested, from Geelong, his service records.

It is possible that John Nicolas Barber remained in the Paremata area for some time, was married at one stage, finally dying in 1973. 

A Soldier's last letter from Gallipoli

Isaac Harold Plimmer 1880 - 1915

The Plimmer family were instrumental in the establishment and expansion of Plimmerton. John Plimmer as a Director of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway was a driving force in the establishment of this private railway company connecting Wellington to Palmerston North. The railway line opened the West Coast of the lower North Island to expansion with the area previously known as Taupo Pa being renamed as Plimmerton in John Plimmer’s honour. 

When the railway reached Plimmerton in 1885 the area was seen as an obvious ‘Brighton of New Zealand,’ the beach resort area for people from both Palmerston North and Wellington.  It was John Plimmer’s son Charles (Chas) who built the first major accommodation, Plimmerton House, beside the Plimmerton railway station that opened to the public in 1893.

Charles children; Isaac, Ella (Girlie) and Mary (Mollie) would have spent time at Plimmerton House from 1893 possibly up to it being destroyed by fire in April 1907.

The Plimmer family may not have lived permanently at Plimmerton House as Isaac is listed as being schooled at the Clive Quay School before attending Wellington College, 1895 – 1897. [ii] Isaac is also listed as passing the Junior Civil Servants exams in 1898 [iii] and trained in engineering as he is listed as a mechanical engineer in the 1905-06 electoral rolls. [iv]

In 1911 Isaac Harold Plimmer is listed as purchasing 99 Boulcott Street but it is doubtful that Isaac lived at the house as he moved to Gisborne soon after its purchase. The property would later be owned by Isaac’s sister Mollie up until her death in 1958. A later owner renamed the house Plimmer House.

With the declaration of war on 4 August 1914 the mobilisation of New Zealand’s forces began and Isaac Harold Plimmer answered the call and enlisted on 14 October 1914. Service records noted that at the time of enlisting he was a Marine Engineer working for a Poverty Bay employer Jeffery Pehiri.  Following his enlistment Isaac was attached to the New Zealand Field artillery as a gunner with the NZFA, 2^nd battery. [v]

The main body of the NZ Field Artillery  Force departed New Zealand on 16 October 1914, and arrived in Egypt in December 1914 and then were based Zeitoun where training and reconditioning began. In March 1915 the New Zealand Field Artillery now part of the ANZAC Corps moved to Alexander for embarkation for the landings at Gallipoli. The 2^nd Battery was landed at ANZAC Cove 26/27^th April 1915 and continued to support the infantry units through the following months.

In August 1915 preparations for a major offensive, the Battle for Chunuk Bair had been completed. At 4:30 pm, 6 August 1915 the initial bombardment of Turkish positions started. It was during the first phase, after fierce fighting, that the Wellington Battalion captured Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915 and it was on this day that Gunner Plimmer wrote what would be his final letter home. The letter contains references to ‘the great fight that was in progress’, that he had seen the charge by either the Sikhs or Gukkas which had resulted in a great number of casualties to the Turks and that his battery had been in action for some time but he was proud to do his duty. [vii]

On 9 October 1915 two gunners #2/829 Isaac Harold Plimmer and #2/673 Albert Harold Griffiths were reportedto have been Killed in Action. [viii] It is possible that both died as a result of a premature explosion of a shell from their battery as there were at least two reported occasions of this happening with the 2^nd battery during the Gallipoli campaign.

Copy of the envelope for the 8/8/1915 letter.

It was after his death that the letter written in August was sent, as requested, to his family with a note next to the address stating ‘to be sent only if sender is dead’

The contents of the letter would later on the death of his father in 1931 be used in a court case to determine Isaac Harold Plimmer’s last will but only part of it (the first and last pages), were reproduced in court records. 

The letter is addressed to ‘Dear Mother and Father’ and the last page reads

“I am writing this in a hurry, things are a bit dicky, and one doesn’t know when one is going to get layed out; let’s hope when it comes it will be only a temporary nature. In case it is more permanent you must not grieve too much, for I’ll be doing my duty and that is the main thing, its one little chance one has, and one has to make the most of it. We haven’t been asked to do anything very serious up to date, but this time it will be, remember me to all my friends. I’ll not be writing any farewell letters other than this. Give my love to Girlie and Mollie and to yourselves, love and good-bye. I can’t thank you sufficiently for all you have done for me, and this is but the little I can give in return. Dad will fix my affairs. I would like him, however, to arrange what I posses to be divided equally between, himself, mother, Girlie and Mollie." [ix] 

Good Bye

Love to All

Your affectionate son

Isaac Harold Plimmer

2^nd Battery NZFA

2/829  Gunner Isaac Harold Plimmer, 2^nd Battery, New Zealand Field Artillery is remembered on the memorial at Chunuk Bair, Gallipoli and at the Wellington College War Memorial.

Webb Memorial Cup – Plimmerton School

On 11 April 1921 Mr Garnham presented to Plimmerton School ‘a cup in honour of an old Plimmerton boy killed in the war’[i] The Webb Cup was then presented by Mr Garnham, 24 December 1921, to the first winner Joyce Shibbs, the Cup was in honour of Sergeant Cecil Ernest Webb who ‘fell in action on the Somme during the Great War. It was to be awarded each year to the child who stands highest in general merit, consideration being given, not only to school work, but also to punctuality, cleanliness, good manners, sport and popularity.’[ii] Early winners of the cup being, Mary Beckett 1922, Edna Young and Sybil Pack 1923, Orviss Thomson 1924, Eric Morton 1925, Molly Brady 1926, E Carpenter and E Buckland 1927, Kenneth Pickering 1928, Jean Firth 1929, Dorothy Ford 1931, Godfrey Firth 1932, Ivan Willis 1933, Rhyna Edginton  1934, Kahu Kotua 1935 and Thomas Johnson 1936.[iii]

The Webb Memorial Cup later was presented as an award to Dux Runners Up and those presented the cup are listed up until 1972.

Thomas Johnson with the Webb Memorial Cup, 1936.[iv]

There is conjecture about who the cup was in memory for while the newspaper article, 1921, mentions an old boy that fell in action at the Somme it possibly was presented in honour of Arthur Llewellyn Webb who was a school teacher and fell at the Somme rather than his brother, Cecil Ernest Webb who was killed in action in 1918. Either way it would have been very poignant to one of the recipients, Orviss Thomson. Orviss’s elder brother had adjusted his age like Arthur and had been killed in action when he was 19/20. Leslie Thomson was also a Sergeant[v] , like Cecil Webb, in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, dying a month before Cecil on the same sector of the Front.

Webb Brothers

Two Webb brothers were killed in the Great War, the younger Arthur Llewellyn Webb, had attended Wellington College 1909 – 1911 and then had entered Victoria University. In 1914 when Arthur enlisted in the army he is listed as a School Teacher employed the Wellington Education Board.[vi] On enlistment like many other young recruits his age has been ‘adjusted’ and while he was just eighteen his service record records him as twenty.[vii]

8/724 Private Arthur Llewellyn Webb [viii]

Private Webb left for service overseas, 16 October 1914, in the Main Body of the NZEF as a Private in the Otago Infantry Battalion. Private Webb saw service at Gallipoli being wounded 8 August 1915 during the Allied assault that was to result in the taking of Chunuk Bair by the Wellingtons.[ix] It is possible that Private Webb would have met his old Head Prefect from Wellington College at ANZAC Cove with Private Childs also serving with the Otagos.[x] Private Webb was evacuated to England to recover from his wounds and then was shipped back to Moascar, Egypt where Private Webb rejoined the 1^st Battalion, Otago Infantry Regiment as reinforcement. The Battalion after retraining was shipped to England and then to France arriving at the Front, April 1916. It was during the Battle of the Somme, September 1916, which Private Webb was to be fatally wounded during attacks on the Morval-Thieval Ridge, his service record contains a summary of evidence in a Field Court of Enquiry into his death. Private Lyndon of the Otago Infantry Battalion stated ‘At about 7 am; 28^th September 1916 I saw 8/724 Pvt Webb in the Goose Alley Trench. A stretcher bearer informed me that Pvt Webb had been wounded in the stomach on September 27^th when the 14^th Coy were attacking Grid Trench. The st-br stated that owing to the nature of the wound that Pvt Webb was not to be taken down to the RAP (Regimental Aid Post) I have not seen or heard of Pvt Webb since 28^th September 1916.’[xi] The Court of Enquiry, 29 November 1916, simply notes Died of Wounds received 27 September 1916. Given the total destruction on the Somme Battle Field Private Webb, like 1200 other New Zealand casualties, has no known grave and is remembered on the New Zealand Memorial at Caterpillar Valley, Wellington College’s Memorial and the Kilbirnie School Memorial where he was a teacher[xii], Private Webb and his brother are also remembered at the National War Memorial Carillion.

Cecil Earnest Webb, the elder brother, on enlistment, November 1915, is listed as a twenty-seven year old Civil Servant employed by the Mines Department in Wellington. As Private Webb, F Coy, 10^th Reinforcements, New Zealand Rifle Brigade[xiii] he departed for overseas service. Private Webb was promoted to Corporal prior to arriving in France and the Front. Corporal Webb took part in the Battle of the Somme being wounded in the hip and back in the second major assault 18 September 1916 and was evacuated to England for treatment. Corporal Webb rejoined is unit and had been promoted to Sergeant when he was killed in action, 28^th August 1918. 14/2116 Sergeant Cecil Ernest Webb is buried at the Vaulx Hill Cemetery, Pas de Calis.

In May 1928 the Evening Post carried a story on the naming of all the bells in the National War Memorial Carillion. Bell number 35 the ‘Rongomai’ is listed as In memory of Cecil Ernest Webb and Arthur Llewellyn Webb – given by Relatives. [xiv]

Prepared for the Plimmerton Residents Association by Allan Dodson, February 2012.

2011 Kilbirnie School War Memorial

1932 April 25 Dedication of National War Memorial

[i] 1979, Seventy-Five Years 1904-1979 Plimmerton School and its Environment, page 22.

[ii] 1921 Evening Post, Vol CII, Issue 152, 24 December, page 3 – Papers Past

[iii] 1979, Seventy-Five Years 1904-1979 Plimmerton School and its Environment, page 49.

[iv] 2004, Plimmerton School 100 years, 1904 – 2004, page 48.

[v] See also story on Leslie Thomson – A Bit of a Lad.

[vi] 1919   8/724 Private Arthur Llewellyn Webb – Service Record, Archives New Zealand.

[vii] 1919  8/724 Private Arthur Llewellyn Webb – Service Record, Archives New Zealand.

[viii] 1919 Wellington College Old Boys Remembrance Book – WCOB Archives

[ix] See also story on Isaac Harold Plimmer – Final Letter Home.

[x] See also story on Harold Phillip James Childs – Buried at Sea

[xi] 1919  8/724 Private Arthur Llewellyn Webb – Service Record, Archives New Zealand

[xii] 2011 note of website and memorial

[xiii] 1919 14/2116 Sergeant Cecil Ernest Webb – Service Record, Archives New Zealand

[xiv] 1928 Evening Post, Vol CV, Issue 118, 21 May, page 10 – Papers Past.

In 1852 Edward Boulton is recorded as a stockholder[i] from Pauatahanui and lived in the area up to his death in 1897. Edward Boulton had six sons and seven daughters, and one of his sons, also named Edward Boulton, established a home at Golden Gate, Paremata.

1904 The Boulton family home, Golden Gate, Paremata[ii]

Edward Boulton (jnr) and his wife Matilda would have seven children, three girls and four boys. Two of the boys are listed as attending Plimmerton School - Kenneth Henry Boulton in 1904 and Noel Gordon Boulton ten years later in 1914.[iii]

Plimmerton School about 1904. [iv]

After Plimmerton School, Kenneth Henry Boulton went to Wellington Technical College where he received certificates in engineering in 1909, 1910 and 1911[v] before moving into employment.

The declaration of war on 4 August 1914 saw the two Boulton brothers who were of military service age enlist. Kenneth enlisted first on 14 August 1914, employed at the time as a storeman for S & W Mackay - a large company specialising in bookselling and stationery based in Wellington[vi].

The enlistment notes show Kenneth Boulton had compulsory military training with the 5^th (Wellington) Regiment for three years, and then transferred to the Field Artillery D (Wellington Mountain) Battery in August 1914 prior to posting. However he was attached to the 14^th South Otago Company, which would be part of the Otago Infantry Battalion as part of the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces[vii]. It was as a private that Kenneth Boulton sailed from Port Chalmers.

Private Kenneth Harold Boulton prior to embarkation with cap badge and shoulder flashes of the 14^th South Otago Company.[viii]

Charles Daryl Boulton, Kenneth’s older brother, enlisted 18 August 1914. Charles (Charlie) is listed as a carpenter working for G E Odlin, like his brother he has also been attached to the 5^th (Wellington) Regiment as part of compulsory military training but later obtained an exemption because of his work. On enlistment Charles was attached to New Zealand Field Artillery and Driver Charles Boulton departed for overseas service, from Wellington, with the Main Body of the NZEF, 16 October 1914.[ix]

Both brothers landed at Gallipoli, ANZAC Cove, 25 / 26 April 1915.

Initially the Otago Infantry were held in reserve then moved to defensive lines but the key to the ANZAC position was a hill, Baby 700,  and to capture this position would force the Turks back onto Third Ridge and give the besieged in ANZAC Cove much needed breathing space and allow them to go on the offensive.[x]  The Otagos were part of the forces committed but due to a number of delays they ended up attacking in daylight against prepared Turkish forces. The result was a disaster for the Otagos as they and other Allied troops were forced back from Baby 700 to their original positions. ‘No complete account exists of the losses suffered by Otago in this attack. The War Diary records five officers wounded, eight missing, 11 men killed, 174 wounded and 208 missing, leaving a strength of 365 out of 800 who went into the attack. But in truth the Otagos never knew how many were lost.’[xi] Private Boulton was one of the missing and his family in Paremata would have received a telegram from the government to this effect. Later on 19 May 1915, Turkish forces attacked in the same area against alerted ANZAC forces, the results were a disaster for the Turks with 10,000 casualties, 3,000 of them killed. The number of casualties in the area resulted in an armistice day, 24 May 1915, to enable the dead to be buried. Private Boulton’s service record lists that he was missing between 1 and 23 May 1915 and it was not until a Court of Enquiry was held in Egypt in 20 January 1916 that Private Boulton and many other from the Otago Infantry were declared ‘missing believed to be killed.’[xii]

Gunner Charles Boulton served at Gallipoli with the 1^st battery of the New Zealand Field Artillery but was evacuated with dysentery to Malta in July 1915 and was later shipped to hospital in England in August 1915. Gunner Boulton’s service record states that he was returned to New Zealand in January 1916 and discharged as medically unfit on 5 May 1916 with sciatica ‘a previous tendency aggravated by active service’[xiii]

Kenneth Henry Boulton is remembered on the Pauatahanui War Memorial, the Lone Pine Memorial at Gallipoli and on the grave of his parents at the Pauatahanui Burial Grounds,  Pauatahanui. 

Prepared for the Plimmerton Residents Association

 by Allan Dodson  November 2011.

[i] Papers Past – New Zealand Spectator & Cook Straight Guardian, 4 April 1852

[ii] Alexander Turnbull Library – Boulton family house at Golden Gate, Paremata – 1 / 2-084864F

[iii] Plimmerton School – Seventy-Five Years 1904 – 1979 Plimmerton School and its Environment

[iv] Plimmerton School – 100 Years 1904 – 2004

[v] Papers Past – Evening Post 1909/10 Wellington Technical College prize lists

[vi] Archives New Zealand – Kenneth Henry Boulton, Service Record 1919.

[vii] Auckland Cenotaph Database – Kenneth Henry Boulton Nominal Roll 1919

[viii] Auckland Cenotaph Database – Kenneth Henry Boulton original photo Auckland News 1915

[ix] Archives New Zealand – Charles Daryl Boulton, service record

[x] Pg 173 Gallipoli – The New Zealand Story; Christopher Puglsley

[xi] Pg 183 Gallipoli – The New Zealand Story; Christopher Pugsley

[xii] Archives New Zealand – Kenneth Henry Boulton, service record. 

Harold Phillip James Childs’ father, Tom Childs, was for over twenty years, the owner of Commercial Hotel in Palmerston North. Like other prominent businessmen and farmers from the Palmerston North area, the Childs family came for holidays at Plimmerton Beach  often owning their own beach house or using one of the many hotels or boarding houses in Plimmerton village.

Harold Phillip James (H P J) was the third of five sons and attended Wellington College as did his other brothers.  H P J Childs was at Wellington College between 1908 and 1911 and is noted in college records as being good at sport with particular mention being made of boxing, gymnastics and athletics where he won various competitions in schools sports events. H P J Childs was also in the 1^st XV and 1^st XI during his schools years captaining  both teams in 1911 the year he was Head Prefect, pictured below.[i]

Two other brothers followed Harold to Wellington College, with the youngest Stanley (Stan) also becoming a Prefect in 1921.[ii]

H P J Childs was listed as a 20 year old university student, attending Knox College, Dunedin when he enlisted in December 1914. It was assumed that he was studying medicine, as his eldest brother T W J Childs was a doctor and a younger brother C R Childs later became a doctor, but 1914 Otago records show that he was enrolled as a student in the School of Mines. HPJ Childs had maintained his sports being listed as a member of NZ University Rugby team that toured Australia in 1913; he also represented the Otago Province 1912 - 1914.[iii] HPJ Childs also is listed as a middle weight boxer for Otago University.

On enlistment H P J Childs held the rank of Sergeant, in D Company of the 3rd Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Battalion departing New Zealand in February 1915 for Egypt.[iv]

Sergeant H P J Childs 8/1429, photographed 1915 prior to overseas service [v]

The 3rd Reinforcements arrived in Egypt 27 March 1915 and H P J Childs reverted to the rank of Private when the reinforcements were incorporated into the main body of the Otago Infantry Battalion (later to be renamed the Otago Infantry Regiment). The Otago Battalion with battalions from Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury made up the New Zealand Infantry Brigade. 

The stay in Egypt was short as transports carrying the New Zealand and Australian Division left Alexandria 12 April 1915 for Mudros, a small Greek port on the island of Lemnos prior to the assault on Gallipoli.[vi]

It was the afternoon of 25 April 1915 when the Otago Infantry Battalion landed. The Battalion was initially held in Brigade support positions on Plugges Plateau. It was then moved into the firing line on Walkers Ridges. Given the confusion at ANZAC Cove, Private Childs was reported wounded between the 25th and 28th of April 1915.[vii] The service records list that Private Childs was wounded in the legs and a foot possibly from Turkish artillery that was reported to be very accurate and effective.  Another member of the Otago Infantry Battalion noted in his diary 'Ryburn turned up safely but there is no word of Adamson. I am afraid he is lost. Both Childs and McQueen are away wounded and my cousin, Lt Egglestone, is away wounded.[viii]  Private Childs was evacuated by sea to Egypt, landing at Heliopolis where he was admitted on  2 May 1915 to the 1st Australian Hospital. [ix]  Private Childs remained in hospital for six weeks and then was returned to his battalion, landing again at ANZAC Cove 26 June 1915.

The conditions at Gallipoli, on both sides, at this stage were notorious. In the summer, the heat was atrocious, and in conjunction with bad sanitation, led to so many flies that eating became extremely difficult. Corpses, left in the open, became bloated and stank. The precarious Allied bases were poorly situated and caused supply and shelter problems. A dysentery epidemic spread through the Allied trenches in both ANZAC and Helles.[x] The disease caused by extreme heat and unsanitary conditions would prove to be almost as deadly as Turkish fire.[xi]

The Otago Infantry Battalion in June / July 1915 was defending Courtney’s Post and it was into these conditions that Private Childs returned, as noted in the diary of another Otago Infantry Battalion member; 'June 27 Sunday again and we have Childs back with us - only to break down again. July 16 - Childs was again carried away on a stretcher, yesterday, quite a wreck with enteric and dysentery. He returned too soon and should have had a longer rest after his wound.[xii]

He was evacuated from the Dardanelles, 16 July 1915 with enteric fever on the Hospital Ship H S Sicilia, but died in transit to Mudros, Greece 27 July 1915 and was buried at sea. [xiii]

Private Harold Phillip James Childs is honoured at the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey and at Wellington College and on the Palmerston North War Memorial.[xiv]

Private Childs service record states that in 1921-23 his father, Tom Childs of Plimmerton was sent Private H P J Childs' medals: the 1914 - 15 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal and a named commemorative plaque and commemorative scroll given to all families who lost kin in the Great War.

Tom Childs was involved in the planning committee that was formed to provide a pavilion in Victory Park, Plimmerton which was constructed in 1926. The majority of those on the committee had either served in the World War One or had lost relatives in the conflict.

In July 2011, 70 boys and 10 staff from Wellington College returned from three weeks travel around the WW1 Memorial sites in Europe tracing the Old Boys who died in the Great War 1914 – 1918. The photo is of Rayhan Langdana Wellington College’s Head Prefect 2011[xv] placing a poppy next to the name of Harold Phillip James Childs, Head Prefect 1911 whose name is inscribed on the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey.

The Lone Pine Memorial records the names of 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who fell in ANZAC Cove and have no known grave. It also records the names of 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who incurred mortal wounds or sickness and found burial at sea. 

Prepared for Plimmerton Residents' Association website by Allan Dodson

[i] Wellington College Archives Battlefield Tour 2011

[ii] Tom Childs obituary Evening Post Volume CIX, Issue 116, 20 May 1925.

[iii] Papers Past.natlib.govt.nz Evening Post items

[iv] H P J Childs service records, Archives NZ.

[v] Wellington College Archives

[vi] Otago Infantry Battalion, NZETC.org

[vii] H P J Childs service records, Archives NZ.

[viii]Pg 183 Gallipoli - The New Zealand Story; Christopher Pugsley; Reed Books 1998.

[ix] H P J Childs service record, Archives NZ.

[x] Wikipedia Gallipoli.

[xi] History of the Canterbury Regiment

[xii] Pg 258 Gallipoli - The New Zealand Story; Christopher Pugsley; Reed Books 1998.

[xiii] H P J Childs service records, Archives NZ.

[xiv] Palmerston North Library Archives

[xv] Wellington College Archives Battlefield Tour 2011

ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year.

This date honours members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries.[1]

In WWI the total number of New Zealand troops and nurses to serve overseas in 1914–1918, excluding those in British and other Dominion forces was 103,000 from a population of just over a million. 16,697 New Zealanders were killed and 441,317 were wounded during the war, a 58 percentage casualty rate. Approximately a further 1,000 died within five years of the war’s end, as a result of injuries sustained. New Zealand had one of the highest casualty and death rates per capita of any country involved in the war.[2]

With most of New Zealand’s war dead buried overseas, local memorials acted as surrogate tombs, places for families and communities to grieve. The World War Memorial at Pauatahanui was dedicated, 18 January 1922,[3] and lists six servicemen with links to the Plimmerton/Pauatahanui/Paremata area: Subsequently another four names were added, of those who fell in World War II.

To commemorate World War I

• Victor Abbott  15/09/1916
• Kenneth Henry Boulton  01/05/1915
• Shirer Charles Carter  31/10/1918 
• Alfred Stephen Henry (Harry ) Death  19/08/1917 
• Walter Harris  12/10/1917
• Norman Keith Jones  07/06/1917

Kenneth Henry Boulton, 01/05/1915, serving in the Otago Battalion was killed at ANZAC Cove and is listed on the Lone Pine Memorial. [4]

While ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli is well known, New Zealand forces were also involved in the battles around the village of Krithia at the southern end of the peninsula. Is Krithia - Moana Road, reported to have been built in 1915[5] commemorating someone’s involvement in the 1915 battles?

Also in Plimmerton is Somme House, built by Archie McMahon in 1916[5] during the first Battle of the Somme (July to November 1916)

Somme House - Moana Road

Sub Lieut Victor Abbott, 15/09/1916, Royal Flying Corps, was killed on a training flight before he was to be sent to France to support action around the Somme. [4]

The Somme Battle started with the first British and French offensive launch 1 July 1916 and the battle finally being abandoned 18 November 1916.

The New Zealand Division joined the battle, 15 September 1916 and this was to be one of the worst days for New Zealand military in terms of loss of life, from the 6,000 men who went ‘Over the Top’ 1200 were listed as wounded or missing and 600 dead.

While no men from the district are listed as killed in this battle Norman Keith Jones, 07/06/1917 and Harry Death, 19/08/1917 were to die during the next major battle at Messines.

The Passchendaele offensive and the attack on the Bellevue Spur was to be the blackest day in New Zealand’s military history. By the end of 12 October 1917 there were 2700 New Zealand casualties with 45 officers and 800 men dead.  Walter Harris, 12/10/1917, was one of those lost.

Shirer Charles Carter was to die, 31/10/1918, in Edinburgh, Scotland shortly before the end of the war.

[1] ANZAC - Wikipedia

[2] Military History of New Zealand in World War 1 - Wikipedia

[3] Evening Post 18 January 1922 – Papers Past.

[4] Commonwealth War Graves

[5] Heritage Trails – Plimmerton Promenade