first Anzac Day service.
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The sound of rifle fire echoing around the valley at the close of the service was for many years as much an integral part of the Anzac Day ceremony as the bugler’s Last Post and the parade of old soldiers from Ngatimoti’s now defunct Returned Servicemen's Association marching to a brass band past our home on Waiwhero Road as they made their way down the hill to the memorial at St James Church.
The official unveiling of their newly completed Takaka marble memorial by the Rt. Rev. William Sadlier, Bishop of Nelson, was a deeply moving experience for the Ngatimoti community, many of whose sons, brothers and cousins lay in unmarked graves far from home. They were joined by a crowd of between 600 to 700 people from all over the Nelson district, including the mayors of Nelson and Motueka, Mr R.P. Hudson, M.P. for Motueka, and a large contingent of veterans.
A brass tablet inside St James Church inscribed with the names of local men lost to the war was unveiled at the same time. A list of names of all those from the Ngatimoti area known to have served during WWI is also held inside the church.
Behind the memorial stands a woman in black - bereaved mother Mary Strachan, supported by two relatives as she mourns the loss of her only son Frank at the Somme in 1916. The woman standing on her righthand side is her sister-in-law Kathleen Strachan nee Robinson, who in 1900 had married Mary's brother John (Jack) Strachan, owner of the "Meadowbank" farm at the foot of Church Hill.
Kathleen's brother John (Jack) Robinson, who worked at "Meadowbank" before WWI, was left totally blind after being gassed during the war and learned to type as part of his rehabilitation post-war. He is mentioned in the "Nelson Evening Mail" article below as "the soldier who lost his sight while on active service who typed up the hymn sheets for the dedication service for the War Memorial". Keeping it in the family, in 1922 John Robinson married Dora Beatson, only daughter of John Strachan's older sister, Mary Sclanders Beatson nee Strachan.Through their father, Edward (Ted) Robinson, Kathleen and her brother John were grandchildren of John Perry Robinson, who served as the 2nd Superintendent of Nelson Province from 1856-1865.
Looking up Waiwhero Road, standing at centre rear is "Sunny Brae", the home of John Guy, farmer and local postmaster, who donated family land for the memorial site on Church Hill, adding to the area donated in the 1880s by his father Walter Guy as the site for St James Church. Following the service, the Guys entertained the Bishop and other dignitaries, plus close friends and relatives, to a spread at their home. John Guy and his wife Lily nee Strachan had two daughters, Margaret (Daisy) and Ruth, and three sons, Walter, Hector and Arthur, who all served overseas during the Great War. However, only Arthur came home - both Walter and Hector were killed in action at the Western Front. Their names are recorded on the memorial, along with that of their cousin Frank.
The Guys’ daughter Daisy, wife of Lt. Col. Cyprian Brereton, commanding officer of the 12th (Nelson & Marlborough) Company of the Canterbury Infantry Battalion during WWI, spearheaded the highly effective Ladies’ Committee which so successfully facilitated the memorial project. The local menfolk were meant to be in charge but faffed around so much that their wives took over and swung into action. I suspect that these formidable ladies would have probably made short work of the war given half a chance!
Along with nearly every chimney in the Motueka Valley area, the Ngatimoti War Memorial collapsed on 17 June 1929 during the Murchison earthquake. Because of lengthy ongoing tremors, it took quite some time before it could be repaired, however the pieces were eventually carried by cart to Nelson, where stonemason Mr Simpson put it back together again and sent it back to be erected on site once more. Lines of the repaired cracks can still be seen if you look carefully, but it has remained sturdily in one piece ever since that time.
Further Information
War Memorial at Ngatimoti - an article covering the Dedication Service
"Nelson Evening Mail", 26 April 1921, pg 4.
For more information, including a list of names of the men recorded there, see
"Ngatimoti War Memorial" at the NZ History website’s Memorial Register.
See also: The Ngatimoti Memorial Minenwerfers
for the history of the Memorial's WWI trophy guns.
Photograph of the first Anzac Day service courtesy of Kate Speer - click to enlarge
