PEACE in our time

New Zealand and the Allies celebrated the armistice on 11 November 1918 and then waited, along with the rest of the world, until 28 June 1919 for official peace with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

Planning global celebrations then wasn’t as easy as it is now; there was no Twitter to inspire a major street party. Even so, New

WORDS: BETTE FLAGLER

Zealand joined the Empire and celebrated a day of thanksgiving on 6 July. Then most New Zealand communities held three days of peace celebrations over a long weekend: Saturday 19 July was soldiers’ day, Sunday was a day of thanksgiving and Monday was children’s day. But after the parties were over communities wanted something that lasted. They contemplated memorials. As Chris Maclean and Jock Phillips write in their 1990 book The Sorrow and The Pride, the motives for memorials were twofold: to remember and honour the dead and to demonstrate pride in the bravery of our soldiers by acknowledging their contribution to allied victory.

Some communities, like the handful we look at here, chose to erect peace memorials. Say “peace memorial” in 2014 and thoughts of pacifism might come to mind. But almost 100 years ago the idea of a peace memorial was not an anti-war sentiment but a symbolic commemoration of peace and victory.

Peace Oak, Papakura

Some communities opted to plant trees as memorials to peace and to recognise the end of the war.

Imelda Bargas, Senior Historian at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, says that pohutukawa and oak were the most popular varieties and that trees not only offered long-lasting memorials but required no fund-raising and could be planted at the July celebrations.

Some of the oaks, like this one that grew from an acorn planted in Papakura on 19 July 1919, are still enjoyed today but others haven’t survived or their identities have been lost. That’s been a particular problem, Imelda says, for those planted at schools; many schools have relocated in the past 100 years and the trees that weren’t identified might just be blended into the landscape now. This one in Papakura bucks that trend; it started life in the Papakura School grounds, now Papakura’s Central Park.

Probably the most famous peace trees are in Fairlie in Canterbury. Five hundred oaks were planted along what became Fairlie Peace Avenue to commemorate the signing of the peace treaty and the end of the war.

Peace Oak, Papakura

Amanda Trayes

But peace trees weren’t planted only in public places. Garden centres ran advertisements encouraging people to “plant your own peace tree”. Imelda suspects there are many peace trees in private gardens but she hasn’t been able to identify any. If you have one in your garden, please let her know: imelda.bargas@mch.govt.nz

PHOTOS: AMANDA TRAYES

Hawera Memorial Arch

It took five years from the first public meeting of the Hawera Peace Memorial Committee to plan a memorial (on 24 March 1919) to its opening by Prime Minister William Massey on 29 March 1924. In the meantime three oak trees, planted at the conclusion of the peace celebrations in May 1919, marked the site.

Most memorials were built with donated funds and, with very few exceptions, local memorial committees were responsible for fund-raising. This was the case for the Hawera arch, which cost a whopping £2542.

Built mainly of Oamaru stone and Takaka marble, the arch lists the names of the 132 soldiers who were lost in World War I. In the late 1940s the names of the 75 lost in World War II were added. The arch was registered as a Category 2 Historic Place in October 1993.

Hawera Memorial Arch

Blair hastings

Ophir Peace Memorial Hall

On 10 September 1923, 18 Ophir residents gathered at the library to discuss building a town hall. They all agreed that they wanted one and all agreed to name it the Ophir Peace Memorial Hall.

That day they organised fundraising and scheduled a social and dance for 7 November. More fund-raising dances and concerts were held and the official opening of the hall on 26 May 1926 was –what else – another dance.

The hall has remained an important part of community life in this small Central Otago town. Resident Lois Galer says that over time the hall was called the War Memorial Hall but, when the residents repainted it, its original name was restored.

In its gold-rush heyday, Ophir was home to more than 1000 residents; today there are just 40 full-timers but they still use the Ophir Peace Memorial Hall, which is included in Heritage New Zealand’s registered historic area, for social functions, book swaps, weddings and dances.

Le Bons Bay Peace Memorial Lirary

Peter Andrews

Ophir Peace Memorial Hall

Peter Andrews

Le Bons Bay Peace Memorial Library

There was strong resistance to utilitarian memorials and a national debate promoting non-utilitarian, artistic memorials was played out during 1919. Even though the Government encouraged non-utilitarian memorials, eventually seven libraries were built to observe the end of the war. This one in Banks Peninsula includes a dedication to Peace Day, 19 July 1919, above its front door.

A Category 2 Historic Place, the Peace Memorial Library is on the only road through the small settlement of Le Bons Bay, giving it, as the Heritage New Zealand registration report says, prominence and considerable streetscape significance. The simple structure – a single room and entry porch – displays two rolls of honour inside.

Phased out of library service in 1992, the building is currently an archive information centre run by community members.

Mauku Victory Hall

Victory halls and monuments were popular in Britain and some New Zealand towns used the word “victory” to name their halls and other installations. This one is in Mauku, about 45 minutes south of Auckland.

Mauku Victory Hall

Amanda Trayes

The idea for a community hall, says Tony Bellhouse, the current booking officer, was put forward at a community meeting in 1914. Fund-raising through a shareholding agreement took place in 1919, followed by construction and the opening on 7 June 1922 by Governor-General Lord Jellicoe.

Tony says the hall is available for hire (but not for 21sts – they’re too hard on the old girl) and even though it is now owned by the Auckland Council it is a real community place. Locals take turns at being secretary, booking officer and so forth. It all sort of stays in the family and Tony should know – his father was on the committee for 30 years.

Kowai County Council Peace Memorial

A Category 2 Historic Place, the former Kowai County Council building in Rangiora is now home to the Kowai Archives Society.

Kowai County Council Peace Memorial

Guy Frederick

Planning for the building began in 1918 when a proposal by County Chairman GA McLean for a new office building for the administration of the county that would “commemorate what the boys from the county had done in the Great War” was accepted. Two thousand pounds were raised through a government loan under the Local Bodies Act and plans for the building were submitted in March 1919. Construction was delayed when tenders exceeded the available funds; a third tender round in 1922 resulted in a contract within the budget. The building was opened on 5 October 1923.

The Peace Memorial served as the council chambers until the council (which had by then merged with Amberley) merged with Waipara County to create Hurunui County and moved to Amberley in 1977.

The building sustained moderate damage in the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, mainly to the front façade. Terry Green, a Kowai Archives Society member, says there have been quite a few inspections and the repair costs are being assessed. In the meantime, members of the society work out of the undamaged back of the building. Appropriately, they are currently recording the stories and photographs of the local soldiers who fought in World War I.