THE FORGOTTEN MEN

Wellington may soon host a national memorial to the so-called “forgotten men” of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade who served in World War I.

Wellington Waterfront Chief Executive Ian Pike says his team has received a proposal from the public, is behind the idea and is now checking the proposal’s historical validity. “We’re absolutely in favour and keen to see the mounted rifles commemorated in some way. But we’ve yet to work out what that something should look like and if, in fact, the waterfront is the best place for it,” he says. It would need public money to get off the ground and would most likely be in the form of a plaque, in keeping with other plaques on the waterfront. The plans should come as good news to two New Zealand military historians committed to memorialising the thousands of New Zealand men and horses who served in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade at Gallipoli and in the Middle East.

Fighting in the Anzac Mounted Division, they helped defeat the Turks in Sinai and Palestine, eventually capturing the entire Turkish 2nd Corps as the war ended.

David Lackey, a Vietnam War veteran, has spent a decade trying to garner support and funding for a suitable memorial. “I believe we are throwing away our history by not giving the mounted rifles more recognition. In many ways they’ve been forgotten, despite being the most successful New Zealand military unit to serve overseas.” Recently, David lobbied unsuccessfully for a bronze statue to be erected within the newly upgraded National War Memorial Park in Buckle Street.

New Zealand Defence Force Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Terry Kinloch is a military historian who has written extensively about the riflemen. He says he’s strongly in favour of a memorial to them, beyond that in the Hall of Memories in the National War Memorial. But he’s not fussed about what it looks like or where it is. “My books are my memorial to them. I’d simply like to see them more widely recognised. People should know they existed and they should know the impressive things they did,” he says.