Anzac Day feature - April 2023

TheForgotten General:New Zealand’sWorld WarICommander Major-GeneralSir AndrewRussell

AndrewRussellwasaNew Zealandmilitaryleaderinthe FirstWorldWar,knownforhis meticulousplanning.

BorninNapier,AndrewRussell waseducatedinEngland,firstat HarrowSchoolandthenattheRoyal MilitaryCollege,Sandhurst,aswas familytradition.Afterservingforfive yearsinIndiaandBurma,Russellleft the1stBorderRegimenttoreturnto NewZealandandfarmsheepwith hisuncle,WilliamRussell.

In1900,whilststillfarming, heformedandcommanded theHawke’sBayMountedRifle Volunteers.In1911Russellwas appointedcommanderofthe WellingtonMountedRiflesBrigade.

In1914,upontheformationofthe NewZealandExpeditionaryForce, Russellwasgivencommandofthe NewZealandMountedRiflesBrigade andsailedtoEgypt.Sixmonths laterthebrigadelandedatGallipoli, withouttheirhorses,asinfantrymen. Russell’smenwereinstrumentalin theseizureofChunukBair,clearing Ottomanoutpostsandopeningthe wayforaninfantryadvance.For hiseffortsatGallipoli,Russellwas knightedin1915.

In1916Russelltookcontrolof theNewZealandDivisioninFrance. Hewasafront-linegeneral,seen totakepersonalrisks.TheNew ZealandDivisionbecameoneofthe bestfightingdivisionsinFrance,due

largelytoRussell’sinsistenceupon dailyinspections,zealousdiscipline, andefficientadministration.

TheNewZealandDivisionwere involvedinthethirdbattleofthe Sommein1916,and,inJune1917, theyweretaskedwithcapturing thetownofMessines(Mesen) inFlanders.Russell’saggressive

strategyresultedintheseizureofthe town,buttheirconcentrationin‘an awkwardsalient’ledtonearly3700 NewZealandcasualties,including sevenhundreddeaths.

TheNewZealandDivision againsufferedseverecasualties inOctober1917,duringtheattack onPasschendaele.Withartillery

hamperedbyrainandmud,an attackonBellevueSpurfaltered, leavingmorethaneighthundred NewZealanderskilledandalmost twothousandwoundedormissing. Thisrepresentsthehighestrecorded lossofNewZealandlivesinasingle day

Russell’smilitaryachievements

ANZACDAY

wererecognisedwithaCBin1916 and,in1917,aKCB.Hewasawarded theFrenchLégiond’honneur(croix d’officier)andCroixdeguerre (avecpalme),theBelgianOrdrede Léopold(commander)andCroix deguerre,theSerbianOrderofthe WhiteEagle(firstclass)andthe MontenegrinOrderofDanilo

Russellreturnedtomanaginghis Tunanuipropertyin1919,butitwas twoyearsbeforehishealthrecovered fromtheexertionsofwar.Apart fromsteeringhispropertythrough difficultfinancialperiodsinthe1920s and1930s,Russell’spreoccupation wasthecareandwelfareofexservicemen.

Heunsuccessfullystoodfor Parliamentasanindependent in1922andwaspresidentofthe NewZealandReturnedSoldiers’ Associationfrom1921to1924,and againfrom1927to1935.Russell waspostedtotheretiredlistin 1932.In1934hewasappointed honorarycoloneloftheWellington Regiment,andin1937honorary coloneloftheWellington(EastCoast) MountedRifles.In1940hewasmade inspectorgeneralofNewZealand militaryforcesbutretiredfromthis appointmentinJuly1941.

RusselldiedatTunanuion29 November1960,agedninety-two, andreceivedafuneralservice withfullmilitaryhonours.Hewas survivedbyhiswife,threedaughters andason.

Russellwasoneofthefew generalsintheBritisharmiesto displayinnovationandtacticalskillin theFirstWorldWar.Hebroughttohis commandthepracticalexperienceof aworkingfarmmanagercombined withanunderstandingofmen,and abroadstudyofmilitaryhistoryand tactics.

Thinkingthingsthroughwas oneofhisstrengthsandhisrange ofinterestsgavehimtheability alwaystoseethebiggerpicture.He waswidelyread,fluentinFrench (hereadProustintheoriginal),an enthusiasticcellist,anoperalover, andabrilliantconversationalist. Despitethesegifts,Russell,amanof strongAnglicanreligiousconvictions, wasself-effacingandmodest.

Russelltookakeeninterestin worldaffairsandwasafounding memberoftheRoundTableinNew Zealand.Healwaysthoughtinterms ofwhatwasgoodforhiscountryand forthegenerationofNewZealanders thathecommanded.Hetook thesamerisksashissoldiersand knewtheircapabilities.Underhis leadershiptheNewZealandDivision grewinprofessionalism.Itssurvival andoutstandingsuccessonthe westernfrontwerehisachievement

Source:https://nzhistory.govt.nz/ people/andrew-hamilton-russell https://teara.govt.nz/en/ biographies/3r34/russell-andrewhamilton

POPPY DAY

The annual poppy day collectionwill be held this year on Friday 21st April.

Donations collected will be held in trust and will be used to assist ex and current Service Personnel, their wives, widows, partners and dependents with health problems etc. Donations can also be used for medical research, educational matters and also help with poppy day expenses.

Collectors will be at all the major supermarkets andinthe Cameron St Mall.

Thereare poppy boxes in many of the businesses around the town and surrounding suburbs and they will also be found at the WhangareiRSA, 16 Hannah St.

Youcan also Text WHANG to 4622 to make a$3donation or Use our unique QR codetomake adonation.

Statue of Major General Russell in Civic SquareHastings. Photos HB Today

AnzacDay2023atWaitangi TreatyGrounds

Thelastsurviving memberofthe28 (Māori)Battalion willpresentanewflag duringthisyear’sAnzacDay CommemorativeServiceat WaitangiTreatyGrounds.

TāRobertGillieswill presentthe28(Māori) BattalionCampaignand BattleHonoursMemorial flagwiththeBattalion’s 42CampaignandBattles Honourstothenation. TheCampaignandBattle Honoursflagwillbeplaced atTeRauArohawhereit willrestasamonumentto theBattalionsfallenHōia whoneverreturnedhome.

TheawardofCampaign andBattleHonoursisan acknowledgementbythe Sovereigntoamilitaryunit toemblazonthename ofaconflictoroperation onflags,uniforms

orotherappropriate ornamentation.

Untilthisyearthese CampaignandBattle Honoursforthe28(Māori) Battalionhaveneverbeen publiclydisplayed.

“Thisis70yearstoolate,” Gilliessaid.

“Wewerevolunteersnot conscpritsandfoughtfor sixlongyears.”

TāRobertGilliesopened TeRauArohaMuseumat WaitangiTreatyGroundson 5February2020alongside Bill(Willie)ApiataVC

TeRauArohatells thestoryoftheMāori commitmenttothearmed forcesincludingagallery dedicatedtothe28(Māori) Battalion’sACompany, mostofwhomhailed fromNorthland.Ittells thepersonalstoriesofthe soldiersandtheirfamilies.

TheCommemorative Servicehostedbythe WaitangiNationalTrust beginsat5pminfrontof TeWhareRūnanga.Gates openfrom4pm–apoppy makingactivityfortamariki startsfrom4pmalso TeRauArohawillbeopen forwhānautolaywreaths andpoppiesintheWhare Maumahara.

AFieldofRemembrance willbeerectedon19April consistingofcrossesto representthemenofthe28 (Māori)Battalionwhowere killedinactionandlieon foreignsoil.

TheFieldwillbeopento viewuntil1May

CelebratingANZACDayatthe PackardMotorMuseum

Writes Geraldine Craw

Peopledrivingpast thePackardMotor Museumrecently,may havenoticedanewdisplay atourfrontfence.

Itisoneofthetwo secondary4-inchgunturrets removedfromtheship, HMNZSAchilles.TheAchilles wasaLeander-classlight cruiserwhichservedwiththe RoyalNewZealandNavyin WW2.Shebecamefamous forherpartintheBattleof theRiverPlate,alongsidethe HMSAjaxandHMSExeter.

TheAchilleswas commissionedasHMS

AchillesfortheBritishRoyal Navyin1933.Theyloaned theshiptoNewZealandin 1937,andthentransferred Achillestothenewlycreated

RoyalNewZealandNavy in1941whereshewas recommissionedasthe HMNZSAchilles.

AttheoutbreakofWW2, Achilleswassenttopatrol thewestcoastofSouth Americamainlylookingfor Germanmerchantships.In theearlymorningof13th December1939,theAchilles, AjaxandExeterencountered

theGermanbattleship,the AdmiralGrafSpee.

Intheensuingbattle, Achillessufferedsome damageandfourofhercrew werekilled.OntheGrafSpee, 36crewwerekilled.The AchillesandAjaxpursuedthe GrafSpee,untilthefollowing morning,thecaptainofthe GrafSpeechosetoscuttlehis shipratherthanriskthelives

ofhiscrewinfurthercombat

TheAchillesreturnedto AucklandinFebruary1940 wheresheunderwenta refit.OnceJapanentered thewar,Achillesescorted troopconveysinthePacific. ShethenjoinedtheANZAC SquadronintheSouth-west Pacific.

In1946,Archilleswas

returnedtheBritish Navy.Shewasthensold totheIndianNavyand recommissionedinJuly 1948astheINSDelhi.She remainedinserviceuntil beingdecommissionedfor scrapinBombayinJune 1978.

TheAchilleswasarmedwith 8x6-inchgunsinfourtwin turretsand4x4-inchgunsin twotwinturrets,aswellas torpedoes,40mmBoforsand 20mmOerlikons.

In1956amoviewasmade–TheBattleoftheRiverPlate –wheretheAchillesplayed herself

Lastly,abigTHANKYOUto ATLASCRANESformoving andpositioningthegun turrettowhereitis.

ANZACDAY

RememberingDolly,Beauty,BessandDigger TheWarHorsesthatreturned

Writes Kem Ormond

Alot of readersmay be unawareofPurple Poppy dayand what it represents. This year Iwrote about it as Ifelt it wasimportant to remember all the animals that had served in wars.In fact we still have animals that are serving to this day.

Being from afamily that has had alifelong affiliation with horses,I felt astrong sense of sadness in knowing that out of the 10,000 horses that left forWorld War1, to carrytroops and supplies into battle, only four returned to New Zealand.

All four horses that made it home belonged to officers. Beauty to the late Captain RichardRiddiford,Bess to Captain Charles Powles, Dolly to Major General Sir Andrew Russell, and Digger to thelateLieutenant Colonel George King, who waskilled at Passchendaele.

The initiative to bring home the four horses came from Major General Sir Andrew Russell.

Beauty,Bess, and Dolly,had left the countrywith the main body of the NZEF in 1914.

Digger had left in 1915 or 1916.

The horses arrived off the passenger freighter,the SS Westmeath. The trip had been traumatic. Firehad broken out in the hold when the ship wassix days out from Panama, destroying all the horses’ feed andmanyofthe soldiers’ possessions.

The soldiersfed their bread

rations to theanimalstokeep them alive until theyreached New Zealand.

Bess and Beauty headed off to Bulls and Feilding, while Dolly and Digger weretransported to Tuna Nui in the Hawke’sBay

Dolly the warhorse whocame home with highly decorated Major General Sir Andrew Russell, known as “The General”,ofTuna Nui Station, wasabletolive out the rest of heryears enjoying the beautiful

pastures of Sherenden in Hawke’s Bay ,until she died in 1932.

While Anzac soldiersare remembered and celebrated on Anzac Day and ArmisticeDay,their horses have had no recognition other than one statue, Te Utu, in Hamilton.

So,aDolly theWar Horse Trust has been setupinHawke’s Bay to fundraise fora life-size remembrancestatueinbronze, of Dolly,toeventually be exhibited

next to Major General Sir Andrew Russell.

Foranyonepassing through Hastings, alife- sizebronzestatue of TheGeneral stands in the Hastings Civic Squarenearthe cenotaph. The statue depicts him in uniform,holding aswagger stick Andrew Russell left NewZealand in 1914 as commanderofthe

Mounted Rifles Brigade. After being made aKnight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG.), he waspromoted to Major General and led the NewZealand and Australian Division during its last weeks on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Russell commanded the NewZealand Division in Franceand Belgium from May 1916 until the end of the war. If you arewishing to see further information about Dolly,the War House Trust check out www.dollythewarhorse.co.nz

Pics supplied from dollythewarhorse.co.nz

WhangareiBoys’HighSchoolOldBoys’Associationisproudtoannouncethelaunchof anewwebsitededicatedtothe34pastpupilswhomadetheultimatesacrificeduring WorldWar1.Thewebsitefeaturesdetailedprofilesofeachfallensoldier,completewith photographs,biographicalinformation,andmilitaryservicedetails.

Thewebsite’slaunchisparticularlytimely,coincidingwithANZACDay,Tuesday25th April.WBHSOBAisproudtocontributetotheongoingcommemorationofthisimportant historicaleventandtoensurethatthememoryofthese34menispreservedforfuture generations.

ThankyoutoJoshClarkandhisteamofresearchersandwebsite withparticularthanksgoingtoWendySkinnerandSuellenRoy.

VisitthewebsiteonANZACDay http://ww1.wbhsoba.co.nz/

ebuilders,

Major General Sir Andrew Russell and Dolly

WBHS OBA LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE HONOURING 34 MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN WWI

ANZACDAY

Thedateitselfmarkstheanniversary ofthelandingofNewZealandand Australiansoldiers–theAnzacs–on theGallipoliPeninsulain1915.Theaimwas tocapturetheDardanelles,thegatewaytothe BosphorusandtheBlackSea.Attheendofthe campaign,GallipoliwasstillheldbyitsTurkish defenders

NewZealandershavemarkedthelandings atGallipolisincenewsoftheeventfirst reachedthiscountry,andAnzacDayhasbeen apublicholidaysince1921.Onthisday,the peopleofNewZealandhaveacknowledged thesacrificeofallthosewhohavediedin warfare,andthecontributionandsufferingof allthosewhohaveserved.

Overtimetherehavebeenchangesinthe waythatthedayhasbeencommemorated, reflectingthechangingfeaturesandconcerns ofoursociety.DuringtheSecondWorldWar, forexample,therewasincreasedinterestand aheightenedsenseoftherelevanceofAnzac Day;inthe1960sanddecadesfollowingitwas fromtimetotimeusedasaplatformforantiwarandothersocialprotest

Today,atatimewhenitseemsNew Zealandersareincreasinglykeentoassertand celebrateauniqueidentity,werecogniseAnzac Dayasacentralmarkerofournationhood. ThenumberofNewZealandersattending

AnzacDayeventsinNewZealand,andat Gallipoli,isincreasing.Forsomeyounger people,thesombrefocusofthedayreceives lessemphasisthandothemorecelebratory aspectsofanationalholiday.Formost,though, thedayisanoccasiononwhichtoformallypay tributeandtoremember

AnzacDaynowpromotesasenseofunity Peoplewhosepolitics,beliefsandaspirations arewidelydifferentcanshareagenuinesorrow atthelossofsomanylivesinwar,andareal respectforthosewhohaveenduredwarfareon behalfofthecountrywelivein.

HospitalShips

The Maheno and Marama weretheposter shipsofNewZealand’sFirstWorldWar effort.Until1915thesesteamershadcarried passengersacrosstheTasmanfortheUnion SteamShipCompany,butascasualties mountedatGallipoli,thegovernmentpressed themintoserviceashospitalships.

WiththeencouragementoftheGovernor, LordLiverpool,amassivepublicfundraising efforthelpedensuretheshipswerefittedout ingoodtimeandtothehigheststandards. OfficiallyknownasHisMajesty’sNewZealand HospitalShip(HMNZHS)No.1andNo.2,these state-of-the-artfloatinghospitalswerecrewed byamixtureofcivilianseafarersandarmy medicalstaff,includingnurses.

DuringtheGallipoliCampaignthe Maheno carriedthousandsofwoundedsoldiersfrom AnzacCovetothenearbyGreekislandsof LemnosandImbros.The Marama entered servicejustaftertheAlliedevacuationfrom Gallipoli.Fortherestofthewar-apartfrom aseriesoffranticdashesacrosstheEnglish

ChannelduringtheBattleoftheSomme-both shipsweretaskedwithcarryingincapacitated menbacktoNewZealand.

Bythewar’sendthesedistinctivelymarked ‘whiteships’hadtransported47,000patients.

Source:Ministry forCultureand Heritage

Remembering ANZAC veterans and their families