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Ferdinand Hochstetter (1829-1884)

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:52:52 +1200

Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand Von Hochstetter (1829-1884) Auckland City Libraries, Special Collections, 7-A11197 (conditions of use)
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Just how did a German geologist come to survey the Nelson region's mineral resources, gift a major mineral and fossil collection to the Nelson Institute and lay the foundation of what would become The Nelson Provincial Museum?

The story of Ferdinand von Hochstetter is told in an exhibition marking the 150^th anniversary of his mineral survey of the Nelson region at The Nelson Provincial Museum from May 9-September 18, 2009. This exhibition runs alongside a national touring exhibition called NZ Fossils Dead Precious!, which shows fossils as indicators and predictors of things like climate change, evolution, natural disasters and mineral deposits.

Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand [von] Hochstetter was 29 years old when he arrived in New Zealand, in December 1858, on board the frigate Novara, as the geologist for an Austrian global scientific expedition. Hochstetter, on behalf of the Colonial and Auckland Provincial governments assessed newly discovered coal seams at Drury to the south of Auckland. Given leave from the Novara, Hochstetter then undertook work for the Auckland Province, including mapping the 50 volcanoes around Auckland, before examining the southern part of the province, including the active Taupo Volcanic Zone.

Geological map of the Province of Nelson Dr F. von Hochstetter and J. Haast, 1860 - J. Perthes, Auckland City Library, Special Collections, NZ Map 5694e (conditions of use)
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In 1859 the Nelson Provincial Government invited Hochstetter, on the initiative of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce, to visit Nelson and make a report on the province's mineral wealth. At the time Nelson was considered to be the country's mineral province, following the discovery of chromite, coal, copper and gold, but apart from a gold rush in the Aorere Valley just two years earlier, mining had yet to prove successful. The Provincial Government was keen to obtain an independent scientific appraisal of the mineral resources, because mining was seen as vital to a province with limited land for farming.

Hochstetter arrived in Nelson on August 4, 1859, accompanied by his German friend, Julius Haast , who was in Auckland to assess emigration possibilities for Germans. Together they investigated the Aorere goldfield and the Pakawau coal seams, with Hochstetter producing sketches, watercolours and maps, something he did throughout his survey in Nelson.

The skeleton made from the moa bones given to Hochstetter by the Nelson Institute and Museum and sent to Vienna, Auckland City Libraries, Special Collections, 881-2bw, (conditions of use)
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The discovery of moa bones in caves at Aorere fascinated Hochstetter and, in return for a complete moa skeleton, which he shipped to Vienna, he arranged for a major collection of international minerals and fossils to go to the Nelson Institute, now The Nelson Provincial Museum. The museum still holds a number of items from the collection, although the bulk of it is now with GNS Science in Wellington.

Once Hochstetter and Haast finished their investigation of Golden Bay they moved to the eastern part of the province, examining the copper and chromite mines near Dun Mountain. The result probably was not what the Provincial Government wanted to hear. Hochstetter found that the rusty or dun weathering rock forming the mountain was largely made up of the mineral olivine, which he named dunite. He concluded there were no large deposits of copper and that it was doubtful if the more abundant chromite could be economically mined. [However, in 1862, the Dun Mountain Copper Mining Company opened the Dun Mountain Railway between the chromite mines and Port Nelson.]

As Hochstetter completed mapping the northern part of the province, Haast examined the Wairau and Awatere valleys.

Hochstetter was warmly received by the Nelson community: a dinner and ball were held in his honour when he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the new Nelson Institute and Museum building in Hardy Street on August 26 1859. The building opened in 1861 and remained until fire destroyed the library section in 1905.

Hochstetter was reported in the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle as being honoured by the invitation to "lay the corner-stone of an edifice designed for the noble purposes of art and science - the Nelson Institute.....Certainly a cheerful and memorable epoch in the history and development of the young colony, when the enterprising pioneers, after the toils and labours of their settling down had succeeded - after their houses had been roofed over, and fields and meadows put in due order - now direct their attention also to the nobler purposes of life, to the nursing of the blossoms and fruits of our civilization, of art and science."¹

The foundation stone can be found in the foyer of the Elma Turner Library http://www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/library-history/ in Halifax Street.

On September 26, 500 people packed a public lecture Hochstetter gave about the province's geology. Nelson's love affair with Hochstetter appears to have been reciprocated. He was reported in the Nelson Examiner as saying: "On account of its beautiful site and its delightful climate, Nelson is justly considered one of the most pleasant places of sojourn in New Zealand. The impression made by the snug little cottages, surrounded by beautiful gardens, is an extremely cheerful one."²

When Hochstetter left the province for Sydney in October 1859, on his way back home, Haast continued in Nelson and undertook an eight month survey of the western part of Nelson. Their combined efforts resulted in the first published geological map of the Nelson province, which, along with a geological map of Auckland, were the first of their kind in New Zealand.

Upon his return to Vienna, the man who became known as the father of New Zealand Geology, maintained contact with friends made in Nelson and continued to promote New Zealand in Europe through public lectures and various publications about New Zealand's geography, geology and natural history.

This article first appeared in issue 35 (2009) of Wild Tomato (additional editing has been provided by Mike Johnston)

Nelson Literary Ramble

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:37:24 +1200

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Literary Ramble map - a Nelson City Council Heritage WalkClick image to enlarge (or download the PDF)

The modern Elma Turner Library (1) opened in 1990 and bears the name of the woman who campaigned for decades for free and excellent library servicesfor Nelson. The library houses, in its reference section, some of the early books from the first library established in Nelson by the Nelson Institute. In Bridge Street is the attractive building of the Nelson Mail (2).

Robert Lucas started Nelson's first daily newspaper in 1866. Early newspapers were a vital part of colonial life. Papers Past, a database available free at the library, gives access to early papers such as the Nelson Evening Mail and The Examiner, the first newspaper published in the South Island in 1842.

The first Nelson Mail building was destroyed by fire but a replica can be found at Founders Heritage Park on 87 Atawhai Drive, along with printing presses and other memorabilia. Charles Elliott, publisher of the Examiner, opened the first bookshop in Nelson in 1842, one of the earliest in New Zealand. Jesse Hounsell and Robert Lucas were both selling books in 1865, and books were often sold alongside other merchandise. Oswald Curtis held book auctions in Trafalgar Street in the 1850s as did Alexander Aitken, who ran a circulating library.

In Trafalgar Street many booksellers can still be found. See Turning the Pages by A&M Rogers for their history. Local independent booksellers Page and Blackmore (3) are a result of a merger of Pages bookshop started in 1910 and the ABC Bookshop started in 1964.

Miss Cooper's Dressmaker's shop 1892, the first Nelson Institute Building (Town Acre 445), the Nelson Provincial Museum, 46829_4
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In The Nelson Provincial Museum (4) is an interactive street map to take you back in time to trace early streetscapes. A Historic Places Trust Plaque by House of Ales marks the site of the first library (5) founded by The Nelson Literary and Scientific Institution in May 1841. The brainchild of Captain Arthur Wakefield, Frederick Tuckett, Alfred Domett, B.E. Duppa and W. Curling who subscribed "a sum of money which was directed back to London with directions for the selection of Books of a useful character which will thus form the germ of the Library of the Institute."

Dommett also had a role in the establishment of the General Assembly Library and a street alongside the Maitai River is named after him.

Thomas Cawthron, a famous benefactor of Nelson, founded the Cawthron Institute. The Institute gave the The Nelson Provincial Museum the Marsden Paintings and Book Collection, a unique Book Collection dating from 1773 to the early 1920s which relates to natural history, discovery and exploration of the Pacific. It provided the nucleus of the research library collection at the Museum archives at Isel Park, Stoke.

Cawthron's gracious residence, built in 1895 at 25 Examiner Street (6) , is now converted to motels.

Newstead, The Nelson Provincial Museum, Copy Collection, C2031Click image to enlarge

Opening of 1911 Institute building, The Nelson Provincial Museum, FN Jones Collection, 6x8-33
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David Monro, the first president of the Nelson Institute was the original owner of Newstead, now Renwick House (7) and part of Nelson Central School. Margaret Mahy's book Crinkum Crankum illustrated by Robyn Belton features a huge historic bouganvillea vine that still hangs on the northwest corner of the verandah. Maurice Gee wrote a vivid history of the School in 1978 and has references to Nelson in The World Around the Corner to nearby Centre of New Zealand.

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) (8) is the home to an innovative Creative Writing course founded by poet Cliff Fell whose forebears lived in the historic Warwick House.

The present imposing School of Fisheries building (9) built in 1911 was home for Nelson Institute and then library for 79 years. It replaced a wooden building on the site which housed the library from 1861-1906 before succumbing to a spectacular fire. The old wooden lean-to at the back was a remnant of the earlier building, and housed the children's library started in 1935. Early European settlers who came to New Zealand wanted to improve their lot so they turned to books to satisfy their thirst for knowledge. Nelson is home to the oldest library in New Zealand and our Literary Ramble celebrates this and some of the people who helped make books accessible for all in the past.

Download a PDF copy of this walk and map and take a tour when in Nelson.

This is one of a series of Heritage trails created by Nelson City Council.

Renwick House

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:43:17 +1200

Renwick House was originally called Newstead, and was the home of Sir David Monro from 1864. Monro was an active member of the Nelson Institute as well as a doctor, famous botanist and politician. Thomas Renwick, another politician and community leader, made it his family home in 1877.

Newstead, The Nelson Provincial Museum, Copy Collection, C2031
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Anne Renwick, the widow and second wife of Thomas Renwick, died in 1937 at age 93 while still resident at Newstead. In 1939 the Government purchased the 2-acre property comprising Renwick House and surrounding grounds (the back field was then a bowling green), to support the growth of Nelson Central School.

Nelson Central School is now the oldest school in New Zealand still functioning on its original unitary site. The site of the present Nelson Central School was purchased in 1893 for 1,600 pounds. The School gained its present name in 1927, with the enrolment of both boys and girls. The newly constituted school was made up of the main building in Nile Street, which took Standards 3-6 and two side schools; Brook Street, Standards 1 and 2 and Tasman Street which housed the infants.

Renwick House, The Nelson Provincial Museum, GCW_P697_fr2
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The main School building was rebuilt in 1930 and the façade retains all its character today.

In 1996 Renwick House was refurbished, also in character with its original style, and reopened as three classrooms with the teaching resource facilities upstairs.

Renwick House sits on a piece of higher ground in the school grounds, adjacent to an excellent playground. A large bougainvillea vine, believed to be nearly as old as the house, sits on the northwest side of the verandah. It is known by locals as the Crinkum Crankum tree, as it provided inspiration to Robyn Belton who illustrated a popular children's story written by Margaret Mahy.

Development of tertiary education

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:34:05 +1300

The first European settlers brought a desire to better themselves and their children through education and vocational training. This vision became reality through various institutions in Nelson and Marlborough, which are combined today in the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT).

Opening of 1911 Institute building, The Nelson Provincial Museum, FN Jones Collection, 6x8-33
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An institute which was comfortable to young and old, where conversation was not prohibited, and where people were not bored was the wish of Nelson's forefathers when the third Nelson Institute building was opened in 1912. The Nelson Literary and Scientific Institute was formed by officers en route to New Zealand, on board the Whitby in 1841. The first premises were opened at the foot of Church Hill on September 27, 1842.¹

A move in 1850 to halve the subscription fee saw an expansion in membership. The Provincial Government wanted the Institute to incorporate a Literary and Mechanics Institute, and a new building was erected in Hardy Street to meet the growing demand for adult education. The aim of the facility was: "the diffusion of useful knowledge by means of a library, reading room, museum, lectures and classes of instruction". Fire gutted the building in February 1906, but the third Nelson Institute building still stands and has been the home of the NMIT School of Fisheries since 1991.²

Nelson Technical College, The Nelson Provincial Museum, Kingsford Collection, 118112
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Meanwhile, in 1904, the Nelson Technical School had been established in a two-story wooden building on the Albion Square side of Hardy Street. Courses in cooking, engineering, woodwork, plumbing and secretarial skills were offered. ³The Technical School was merged with Nelson College in 1930, with many part-time hobby classes and a few vocational courses being offered. Nelson Polytechnic officially became a technical institute in 1971, with 13 fulltime tutors. ⁴

Nelson Technical College, sewing hats, The Nelson Provincial Museum, Kingsford Collection, 118111/6
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From the beginning, it was felt that the polytechnic's future lay in the forestry, transport and fishing industries. Over the years new courses have been added, providing training for key local industries and services such as fishing, tourism and nursing. For the wider business community, the Bachelor of Commerce became the first degree programme in 1992.⁵ The polytechnic (which is now known as Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology) has also played an important part in nurturing the development of craft and arts in the region.⁶

Providing viable tertiary education options has long been a challenge. The 1980's saw Nelson Polytechnic expand operations into Tasman and Marlborough. Marlborough had been particularly neglected, and in 1983 the Blenheim Borough Council and the Labour Department set up a plant nursery to train young people for the horticulture industry. The Marlborough Youth Learning Centre was established in Seymour Street in 1984.⁷

In 1985 the Nelson Polytechnic and Blenheim Borough Council leased land in Budge Street from local horticulturalist, Ralph Ballinger. The $300,000 Ballinger Horticulture Centre was opened on July 20, 1986. Through the 1990s the Marlborough campus grew, with specialist aviation at Woodbourne Air Base and viticulture courses now offered. ⁸

A horticultural centre, offering horticulture and forestry courses, was established in Salisbury Road, Richmond in 1988. A new Primary Industries School was opened on a 4.5 hectare site in lower Queen Street in 1995. ⁹ Courses were relocated to Nelson at the end of 2006, and the centre is currently run by a partnership between a private company, Skills Update, and the Polytechnic.¹⁰

A polytechnic campus was opened in Motueka in 1989, with more than 1000 students attending courses in the first year, but by 1993 the polytechnic had just 30 full-time students. The campus closed at the end of that year, with some courses relocated to Richmond or Nelson. ¹¹

Today, the provision of tertiary education in the top of the South continues to grow. In 2008 the Prime Minister, Helen Clark announced more than $8 million funding for a new arts and media building at the Nelson NMIT campus. ¹²

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology timeline

1904 - Nelson Technical Institute, part of Wellington Technical College (est 1891) in Hardy Street
1930 - Merged with Nelson College
1964 - Technical College opened, operated by Nelson College Council of Govenors
1971 - Nelson Polytechnic established as a separate entity.
1993 - Marlborough Campus opened
1995 - Richmond Campus opened
2000 - Review and name change to Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology
2006 - Richmond Campus closed

John Sylvanus Cotterell 1819-1843

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:31:33 +1200

Cotterell's house Alexander Turnbull Library, PUBL-0011-06-1
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Surveyor, settler, explorer

If John Cotterell had not been killed, in the Wairau Affray, at the tender age of 23, it is likely he would have become a person of some standing in early colonial society. Born in Bath, Cotterell was one of several influential Quakers involved in the establishment of Nelson.

While working as a surveyor in Bristol, he became interested in colonisation and the welfare of ‘aborigines'. He arrived in Nelson on the Fifeshire in February 1842, and soon after, advertised his services as a surveyor and land agent, as well as opening a store selling household goods.

Between March and July, Cotterell completed surveys of the Waimea Plains and Waimea West. He described his new lifestyle to his mother: "You would smile at our independence, when on these excursions, only making a large fire, roasting pigeons or ducks....then rolling up in a blanket and lying on the bare ground or grass." 27 March, 1842.

In March, Cotterell visited the Motueka Pa. "(I) was received with great attention by the chief and his wiena (wife) Mary; she is a very kind woman. The husband is a quiet old man, very lively in his conversation, and affectionate in his manner."¹

As Cotterell's knowledge of the Maori language increased, a mutual respect developed between himself and local Maori. In October, he again visited the Motueka Pa and met a chief known as Atopikiwara: "He saw no good in being paid for the land...but the best way would be for the white people to pay whenever they cut down a tree, built a house, or made a garden thus establishing a perpetual rent. This will, I think, be found the general idea of the New Zealand chiefs, as regards utu (payment)."²

Clip from Nelson Evening Mail (1963, 18 November) , p10.
Click to enlarge

Cotterell pioneered the Tophouse route to the Wairau on 21 November, 1842. His sighting of more than 80,000 hectares of extensive grassy plain across the divide, altered the prospects and raised the spirits of the Nelson settlers.

By March, he was surveying the Wairau for the New Zealand Company. Ngati Toa disputed the Company's claim and tried to stop the surveys by non-violent means, burning the huts and evicting the survey parties.

Cotterell was part of the ill-fated party sent to the Wairau to deal with the well-prepared Ngati Toa. An armed conflict ensued, although, as a Quaker, Cotterell refused to bear arms. Several of the men fled, but Wakefield dissuaded Cotterell from fleeing, saying he would surely be shot. Cotterell surrendered to a Maori he knew, but he was seized by another and killed.

On 5 April 1843, Cotterell had written to his mother: "I am getting on with the native language and can talk to them a little of the feelings of the soul, of the love of God, and of the advantage of goodness. I am delighted with the deep thought and fervency of character of many of them.....But the intercourse with the English will spoil these fine traits of character, and make them worldly as themselves."³

After his death, the Quaker Journal in England wrote that during his sojourn in New Zealand, Cotterell had been on the best terms with Maori and that "the New Zealanders have slain one of their best friends."

This article is paraphrased from a series of columns written by Joy Stephens and published in the Nelson Mail in 2007.

John Kidson (senior) 1808-1875

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:47:04 +1200

Gardener, Nelson settler, participant in Wairau Affray and New Zealand Company agitator

John and Amelia Kidson both had secure jobs in England - he was a gardener at the Royal Gardens (now Kew) and she was a lacemaker to Queen Victoria. However, the Industrial Revolution of the 1840s created great unemployment in England, so the Kidsons decided to emigrate to Nelson for a better future for their family. They arrived on the Bolton on 15 March, 1842.

John Kidson, The Nelson Provincial Museum, 68443-3
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On 10 April, 1843, Kidson wrote to the Reverend Harry Dupuis: "I have been hear 13 months, and ham happy to say it is a helthey climet. The harbours abound with fish, and there is plentiful supply of potatos from the natives, tho very Dear; but I have got good gardin, plenty of things growing."

This letter was, however, interrupted. Kidson was enlisted to help crew the boat which transported Arthur Wakefield, Frederick Tuckett and co. to the Wairau Valley to investigate Maori resistance against men surveying there.

Kidson's statement about the Incident (given verbally and transcribed) was published in the Nelson Examiner on 23 December, 1843: "I thought I should have made a stand and faced the enemy, but there was no getting our men together - they kept slipping off one at a time, until there were few left besides the gentlemen and they talked of giving themselves up."¹

There were "100 fighting men, and on our side 49 in hall, and half of them never fiered a gun in thare lives I ham sartin shore; ford I had to lode thare Peaces for them," he later wrote to Rev Dupuis.

Kidson managed to escape and was pursued by three Maori and a dog. "I again took up my gun, and seeing one about to throw what appeared to be a spear, I leveled at his navel and brought him down." He waded through swamps and rivers, climbing a tree to wait for the moon to rise and finally reached Ocean Bay the next afternoon.

Kidson returned to the scene of the battle a few days later to bury the dead with the Reverend Samuel Ironside, a Port Underwood missionary. As the New Zealand Company boat had been taken by Maori, Kidson and four others walked back to Nelson via the Tophouse.

In August 1843, Kidson resumed his letter to Reverend Dupuis in England: " The Peapel are leaving the colany fast and my wife wishes she wass back, but I fear that will never be......"

The Kidsons saved to buy a piece of land, with John working at the Company store and Amelia preparing bird skins to be sent home to England. In 1850, Kidson signed the Memorial of Mechanics and Labourers² claiming compensation from the New Zealand Company for unfulfilled promises.

By 1853, the Kidsons and their 11 children were living on freehold land in Brook Street. Kidson worked as a gardener for resident magistrate, John Poynter, for several years and his son John (jnr) became lighthouse keeper on the Boulder Bank- living there for 30 years and rescuing many people.

Note - Wairau Affray
At the time of the Wairau Affray, the Government was paralysed by the numerical superiority of Maori (about 6000 European settlers and 120,000 Maori) and knew that the survival of the Colony depended on Maori goodwill. Governor of New Zealand, Robert Fitzroy illustrated this difficulty when he said about the Wairau Incident: "The Europeans were wrong and had no right to build houses upon land who's ownership was disputed. But that, the very bad part of the Wairau affair was the killing of men who had surrendered."

This article is paraphrased from a series of columns written by Joy Stephens and published in the Nelson Mail in 2007

Anzac Old boys - World War II

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:23:52 +1200

Grenville McFarland with the College Rugby team
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Three of the young men from Nelson College who lost their lives in World War II, as recorded in the Nelsonian, the Nelson College Magazine.

Grenville James McFarland, image supplied by Gina Fletcher and Nelson College Old Boys Association
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Pilot Officer Grenville James McFarland RAF¹

Killed on air operations 12 May 1940

"McFarland entered the school in 1933 as a Country House boy. He passed Matriculation in 1936, and then had two years in the Sixth Form. He first became prominent as a cricketer, playing in the 2^nd XI when the first visit to Greymouth occurred in 1935. He had three years in the 1^st XI, being Vice-Captain in 1938, and a Nelson representative for two years. He first made his mark as a fast bowler, but gradually developed into so good a bat that he scored a century in his last club match at College. He was also a sound footballer, securing his 1^st XV cap in his last year.

His good all-round abilities and his strong character won him a House prefectship in 1936 and a school prefectship in the following year. In 1938, on being made Head of the school, he came in to board at Fell House. He proved an exceptionally successful Head Boy. His sound and forceful character made him an ideal prefect, and these strong qualities in his personality were tempered by a genial good-humour and ready wit that won him easy popularity.

He was interested in flying from an early age, and qualified for his pilot's certificate while still at school. After leaving school he had a few months

at home, and then left for England in March 1939, to take up a commission in the Air Force."

Frank Edward Creasy, image supplied by Gina Fletcher and Nelson College Old Boys Association
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Private Frank Edward Creasy ²

Son of Mrs E M Creasy, entered Nelson College in 1929, staying for four years. During this time he was active both in and out of school and became known as a steady likable character. After leaving school he managed his mother's orchard at Mahana. He enlisted in 1940 and was called up for active service in June, 1943. He was killed by a flying fragment of shell during the attack on Cassino on 18 March 1944. He married Miss Hazel Daly of Wellington, and leaves two little boys.

Flight Lieutenant Alan Harold Ching³

Alan Ching, image supplied by Gina Fletcher and Nelson College Old Boys Association
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Alan entered College in 1936 and left early in 1940, having passed Matriculation. He was a good cricketer, being captain of the 2^nd XI when he left. After working in the State Advances Corporation for a short time, he went into camp with the 12^th N.M.W.C. Regiment, from which he transferred to the Air Force. He trained in New Zealand and Canada, and after being commissioned served in the Central Mediterranean Forces until 1944, when he returned to England. He lost his life while returning to rescue his pilot from a blazing plane after getting out safely himself. He received severe burns and died after a week in hospital.

William Ching, image supplied by Gina Fletcher and Nelson College Old Boys Association
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Flight Sergeant William Michael Ching³

William attended College form 1937 to 1941. He had a good all-round record, for besides passing Matriculation he was a school prefect, a CSM and a member of the 1^st XI. He entered Christchurch Training College in 1942, but left at the end of the year to enter the RNZAF. After courses at Taieri, Ohakea and Rotorua air stations, he completed his training in Canada. On reaching England he was at first engaged on Lancasters as navigator, and then transferred to Pathfinders, taking part in 13 raids. In December 1944 he was reported missing over Heilbronn, and his death is now presumed.

William and Michael were brothers.

A P.O.W.'s journey

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:52:44 +1200

Hamish Neale was born in Grove Street, Nelson, in 1914, the middle child of a family of seven. His father owned Neale and Haddow, Grain and Seed Merchants of Nelson (1868-1986¹). The family moved to Stoke to live in Whareama in Neale Avenue - which had been built for an English couple and was equipped with servants' quarters, not children's bedrooms.

Hamish attended Nelson College. After qualifying from Otago Medical School in 1937, he worked as a house surgeon at Wellington Hospital, where he met his wife to be, Gwyneth Laver, a nurse, who he was not to see for six long years. They re-met in 1945 and enjoyed 60 happy years of marriage together.

A P.O.W's Train Journey

V.E. Day parade in Trafalgar Street, Nelson in 1945 to celebrate the end of the war in Europe. The Nelson Provincial Museum, Kingsford Collection, 160560
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When World War 2 was imminent in 1939, Dr Hamish Neale joined the Territorials and transferred to Burnham Army Camp. After the outbreak of war, he volunteered for the Special Forces and shipped to Egypt with the 4^th Field Ambulance, a unit in the 1^st Echelon and worked at the Second Tenth General Hospital in Cairo.

He continues:

In 1941, when Greece was threatened by Mussolini's Army and the Nazis, the 2^nd NZ Division was deployed south of Salonika in the north of Greece. The Division retreated after the German onslaught and the collapse of the Greek Army - it was a fighting retreat down to Attica where many of us were taken prisoner, and those who were not were evacuated to Crete.

Along with British Prisoners of War, we were held for a couple of months in the neighbourhood of Athens. Then shifted in cattle trucks- 1000 to each train load- to Germany and Poland.

An hour or so north of Athens, the train stopped and we were all ordered out. We were ordered to march past some tar-drums into which we must put any objects which could be used as weapons. There were wild and barbarous threats such as: "Anyone found with such an item in his possession will be hanged from these trees here."

Later the train stopped because bridges and tunnels had been blown up as we retreated in the earlier battles. So now we marched for a day over the Brailos Pass and down again to the plains about Lamia in Thessaly. Then we were loaded onto another train, eventually arriving in Salonika where we were unloaded and marched to a Greek Army Camp where we were kept for a few weeks.

There was one meal a day which consisted of a good thick barley soup with here and there a strand of meat. The meal was served by the Serbs who had been taken prisoner before us and had been the camp cooks ever since.

Mules and donkeys were used extensively for transport by the Greeks and Yugoslavs and we believed that the cooks supplied with one of these deceased animals would gut and skin it, cut off its legs and throw the rest into the big soup cauldron. Fossy was an English surgeon, and a very good one too, but when not at work he had a tendency to drift off into metaphysical spheres where he became inaccessible to my more pedestrian mind! So we were sitting there in silence when Fossy began shoveling around a large bit of meat in his soup- lucky devil I thought - as it kept slipping off his spoon. Finally we both peered into his tin, and there we met the reproachful gaze of a mule's eye! I didn't wait to see, but I suspect Fossy ate it, as the eye was good protein.

One day we were told we would be moving by train the next day. That night about 11pm we awoke to the sound of machine guns firing into the parade ground from the watch-tower at each corner of the camp. Someone had found a culvert which passed surface water under the perimeter barbed wire. A bunch of P.O.W.s were lining up to follow the leader and escape by crawling through the drain - they had been spotted and the machine guns opened fire.

Next morning as we lined up to march to the train, we had to step over some corpses - the product of the previous night's shooting. One thousand of us were loaded into cattle-trucks - 25 I think it was to each closed truck. We could all sit on the floor together at the same time, but we could not all lie down at the same time and, of course, there was no bedding.

We were off to somewhere- we knew not where. As we boarded the train, we were each given what we took to be the day's rations: two small tins, each containing four olives wrapped in a fig leaf and immersed in some kind of preservative fluid, plus a round stone-hard biscuit about four inches across. We promptly ate the lot - not realising it was our food for the entire journey. It took us five days to get from Salonika to South Berlin.

We were a mixed bunch in my truck: two officers of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, two Cambridge Dons who were captured in Crete long after the fighting was over (they were gun-running for the Cretan resistance and probably had the job because of their knowledge of Greek). The rest were a mixture of Aussies and New Zealanders.

We traveled through the night into Macedonia. At about 10am the train stopped and we were ordered out. We were in a large shallow basin- just pasture and domestic animals. In front of us there were three machine guns with their crews lying in position, about a dozen infantrymen with their rifles at the ready and a small group of officers on a knoll behind the infantrymen.

We were herded outside towards the center of the train. I have spoken to a number of former P.O.W.s who were there and all agree that they too thought the scene was set for our massacre. But finally a large German officer with a curiously high-pitched voice, who we were convinced was going to give the order to fire, shouted as loudly as he could: "Englishmen, all shit". When the men recovered from their surprise, they did their best to comply.

At Belgrade, I was ordered out of the truck again to conduct a sick parade on the platform with all the civilians passing by. There was a little man in a long, white coat and wearing a felt hat, a member of the local Red Cross and a senior German N.C.O. keeping watch. Hardly your normal consulting room! With much nodding and pointing, the three of us agreed that two patients needed to be taken to hospital- one with a large appendix abcess and one with pneumonia.

Back into the train and heading north- in Austria now and I was getting terribly hungry- we'd had no food for some days. Northwards through the night -banging and jolting. Now where were we? Wiener Neustadt, a satellite town of Vienna. I had wanted to see Vienna - well old boy, you don't know it, but you will have to wait another 40 years before you see Vienna as this is not a tour train and the train turns north just before Vienna. The next stop was Salzburg reached just after dawn. I looked up and saw the castle on the hill and wondered idly what music Mozart would be composing now, were he still here.

On north, and into Germany where we stopped at a station- Luckenwalde. The sliding door rolled open and a guard shouted "ARZT" (doctor)- that's me. I got out, the door rolled shut behind me and I seemed to be standing alone on the platform with one guard. There were about 300 Cypriots at the other end of the platform and I was taken to join them. The train moved eastwards, taking the last New Zealanders I was to see for four years! From here on I was sent anywhere the Germans wanted to send an M.O. (Medical Officer)- to any place, to camps of any nationality, and I had absolutely no say in the matter.

The Cypriots and I were marched away to a French P.O.W. camp and in succeeding weeks I received and sorted out trainloads of P.O.W.s from Greece- in effect it was a huge transit camp with the sick and wounded sent to the large camp hospital and others moving onto final camps, mainly in Poland.

When I eventually returned to New Zealand in August 1945, there was no-one with whom I shared the P.O.W. years to talk about life in Nazi Germany, so I largely gave up thinking about it. But now that I am old and partly because children and grandchildren have started asking questions, I think a bit more about it.

An anecdote from Margate

At the end of the war when P.O.W.s were being flown back to the U.K. and New Zealanders were accommodated in Margate, fresh batches would arrive daily in the Mess and there would be shouts of recognition and hand shakes between chaps who had got separated in various battles in North Africa, Greece and Crete.

One day I was having a beer at the bar with a Regular Officer of the Royal Marines based at Chatham, when a young second Lieutenant arrived in the Mess, looked around and suddenly strode across the room with hand outstretched, calling out: "Charley, you Old Bastard!" The Royal Marine officer was horrified and said to me: "Did you see that? That impertinent brat called that Captain an old bastard."

I gave my R.M. friend a short lecture on the difference in language of New Zealanders and others of the Commonwealth including the information that the implications of the words ‘old bastard' depended on, by whom it was said, to whom, in what tone and the circumstances involved.

Then the R.M. officer tugged at my sleeve and asked :" Did you see those medal ribbons that the Captain has on his uniform? Do you know what they mean?" He, of course, knew very well what they meant.

I replied: "The one on the left is the African Star, awarded to those who have taken part in battles in North Africa, Greece and Crete. You will see that everyone here has that ribbon- I even have one."

"What about the other one?" asked the almost speechless R.M. officer.

"Well," I replied,"You will not see a lot of those ribbons around here. It is the ribbon of the Double Victoria Cross."

"Charley, you Old Bastard" was of course Charles Upham, Double V.C.!

Note
Dr. Neale died in 2009. Read his obituary.

Albert Charles Jennings (1879-1917)

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:33:56 +1200

Bert (as he was known to his friends) was born 09 September 1879 at Nelson. Albert attended the Bridge Street School from the first of May 1888 to November 1889 reaching standard 3. According to "The Nelson Mail" he also attended Boys Central School. Bert indicated that he had passed the Fourth Educational Standard or its equivalent when he filled out forms when applying to join the forces in World War I.

Albert Charles Jennings, photo supplied by Cheryl Carnahan
Click image to enlarge

Boer War

At the time of enlisting for the Boer War, his military history sheet, records him as a bushman working for Brownlee and Co of Havelock, Marlborough.

He joined the Nelson and West Coast divisions of the Nelson Volunteer District section of the Seventh Contingent in 1901¹and left Nelson for Wellington in March of that year with members of the 7th New Zealand Contingent, No 23 Unit on the SS Wainui:

The Seventh Contingent. This morning at 11o'clock Nelson's further quota for the Seventh Contingent will leave by the Wainui for Wellington. It was originally intended that the Nelson portion should number 7 men, but it appears that out of 15 applicants, only 5 including Trumpeter Jackson, of the H Battery, who proceeded to Wellington last week, have been selected, the other men having failed to pass the various tests.²

Bert was 21 when he volunteered. He was drafted from the Nelson Rifles (Canterbury) as a private and had been in the service for one year. With the knowledge that his older brother Aubrey had been killed fighting in the Boer War on 29th November 1900 it is surprising that he still enlisted.

The contingent went into camp at Newtown Park in Wellington at the end of February from where they left for Capetown on 6 April 1901. They fought in the Transvaal, at Reitfontein on 14 June 1901, and Meyerton near Vereeniging on 2 September 1901

The 7^thContingent travelled by train to Paardekop in pursuit of Botha. By 6 November 1901 they were at Vryheid. They crossed the Drakensberg Range back into Orange Free State on 11 December 1901 and covered the construction of a line of blockhouses between Frankfort and Vrede. Bert took part in the arduous pursuit of de Wet and had several narrow escapes.

The contingent completed its period of service and sailed from Durban on 22 May 1902 aboard the S.S.Manila, and were disbanded in New Zealand on 30June 1902. Albert Jennings stayed on in South Africa after the Boer War ended and worked at the Kimberley Mine in South Africa, where his brother James Henry Jennings joined him. Bert served in the Police force as a constable, living in Pretoria and spent five years in the Transvaal Town Police force. He arrived back in Nelson in 1908.

Bert was allowed two months leave from 26 June 1902 on full pay for the rank of Sergeant. His certificate of discharge on completion of service states his character was very good. His service abroad amounted to one year and three months and the medals awarded to him were Transvaal and O.R.C. clasps.

Between the Boer war and World War 1 Albert Charles worked in the Ronga Valley in connection with Brownlee's sawmill.

World War 1

Albert Charles Jennings, photo supplied by Cheryl Carnahan
Click image to enlarge

Albert Charles Jennings sailed from Nelson on 6 January 1915 to join the 2^nd Company, 2^nd Battalion Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade New Zealand forces to fight in The Great War. His regimental number was 6/1887 in C Company 4^th Rifles. January, February and March were spent training at Trentham and he embarked for Europe via Australia on 17^th April 1915.

Bert was not involved in the most famous military actions to involve New Zealanders - Gallipoli - as he was still in Australia on 29 April 1915. However, he was involved in the Sari Bair Offensive in August 1915. Bert's military history sheet records him wounded on the 8^th June 1915 in the Dardanelles and again on 7- 9August 1915 in the left arm and right leg. On 23 August he was located in Alexandria, Egypt.

On 19 October Bert embarked on SS Marquette after service injury and recovery from the Gallipoli Campaign. The H.M.Transport S.S. Marquette left Alexandria Harbour, Egypt, in the late afternoon on October 19 1915 for Salonica, Greece. The Marquette was sunk on 23 October by a torpedo, with heavy loss of life, after her French escort had left her.

Bert spent some months recovering from injuries in hospital in England. He sent many letters home, including the following, the day before his death:

Somewhere at the Front, June 6^th 1917
Dear Harriet
Just a line to tell you that I am thinking of you all at home. I am just going into a big battle so I may not be able to get home again. But this is a soldiers chance and I must take it with the rest of the boys. Give my love to all at home and I hope you are all well. Love from Bert.

He was killed at Messines on June 7 1917.

The Register of the Messines Ridge [NZ] memorial records particulars of 840 New Zealand dead. The Register records:

JENNINGS, Sergeant Albert Charles, 6/1887 2nd Canterbury Regiment. Killed in action 7 June 1917, age 37. Son of James and Susan Jennings of Weka Street Nelson. Served in the South African campaign.

To read more information and documentation about Albert Charles Jennings, click here.

Anzac Old Boys - Boer War

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:07:52 +1200

Three young Nelson men, who died in the Boer war..

William Aubrey Jennings (2 May 1877 - 29 November 1900)¹

William Jennings
Photo supplied by Cheryl Carnahan
Click image to enlarge

William Aubrey (Aub) the son of James and Susan Emma Jennings nee Worster, was born in Nelson on 2 May 1877. Aub attended Bridge Street School from 1888 to 1890. Before joining up for the Boer War, Aubrey was a labourer, employed by Mr. C.J. Harley a lawyer of Nelson. He also worked as a labourer in Wanganui. He joined the 2^nd Contingent Units three and four as a private. The 2^nd Contingent consisted mainly of men already trained in volunteer units. Aub and his horse were both regimental number 394 and his gun a carbine number 349 and 1175. He was drafted from the Nelson Rifles, of which he had been a member for 2½ years.

Aub departed on the SS Waiwera, from Wellington 20 January 1900 bound for South Africa, via Albany, Australia.¹ T he Contingent disembarked at Cape Town on 27 February 1900. They then entrained to Victoria Road in Northern Cape Colony and trekked in a column under Colonel Sir Charles Parsons for one month, before moving onto Bloemfontein. They were the first troops to enter Brandfort on 3 April after contact with the Boers. On 4 May they helped dislodge the Boers from Constantia Hill, their rifle fire proving too much for the enemy on. There was shooting on 5 and 12 May, when the contingent came under fire at the crossing of the Zand River, before entering Kroonstad.

On 26 May they had a sharp engagement at Rietspruit. On 28 May the New Zealanders were sent forward to hold a hill (Van Wyk's Vlei) coming under fire for most of the next two days.

On 29 November, the Second and Third Contingents formed part of the Force that attacked 1,000 Boers under the command of General Ben Viljoen at Rhenoster Kop in the northern Transvaal. The New Zealanders suffered particularly badly in this battle. William Jennings was killed in an engagement at Reitfontein, 29 November 1900, during this battle. He was buried on Reitfontein farm about 20 miles north of Balmoral. A stone tablet bearing his name and those killed in the South African war is in the Nelson Cathedral. His name is also on a statue of remembrance in the Queen's Gardens Nelson.

William's brother, Albert Charles Jennings, also fought in the Boer war - he survived to die in World War I.

Gunner John Moeller ²

John Moeller, image supplied by Gina Fletcher and Nelson College Old Boys Association
Click image to enlarge

Poor Moeller succumbed to enteric fever at Springfontein in the Orange Free State, and he was interred at Bloemfontein..... Jack Moeller, as he was always known to his friends, took a keen interest in the progress of the College, and he was an extremely popular Old Boy. Telegraphic intelligence of his death reached College on Thursday morning, 6 July, and it created a profound sensation. The College flag was suspended half-mast high in mute evidence of the loss of an enthusiastic and devoted Old Boy. The deceased attended College as a boarder during 1890-1, and he was a prominent footballer. On leaving College his name became extremely well-known in Wellington Football, Rowing and Volunteering circles, and on his departure with the Second Contingent for South Africa several handsome presentations were made to him by his numerous friends. The death of one so intimately allied to us in the comparative solitude of that distant African township brings home to one with vivid insistence the reality of the colonial sacrifice in the interests of the Empire.

Trooper Poole, image supplied by Gina Fletcher and Nelson College Old Boys Association
Click image to enlarge

Trooper T W Poole³

Trooper T W Poole was ..a boarder at Nelson College in 1891, and a member of the Cadet Corps. He was a West Coast boy, and on leaving College he entered the Railway Department. He volunteered and was accepted for the 2^nd Contingent at Invercargill, where he had joined the Southland Mounted Rifles. His photograph had been procured from his mother for reproduction in this magazine just the day before the receipt of the cable message announcing his death. He was always keenly interested in athletics, especially in rowing, and his untimely death is mourned by a large circle of friends. A pathetic interest now attaches itself to Moeller's discovery of Poole's identity as an old Boy during the voyage to South Africa. Moeller at once apprised us of this addition to our list, little dreaming that in a few short months the names of both would be coupled in an obituary notice.