Warren Dawson is headed to Israel to unveil a sculpture - a replica of the one behind him - about Kiwis who fought there in WWI. Photo / Alex Cairns
Warren Dawson is headed to Israel to unveil a sculpture - a replica of the one behind him - about Kiwis who fought there in WWI. Photo / Alex Cairns
On November 14, 1917, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade defeated a large Ottoman counter-offensive at Ayun Kara in what was then Palestine.
The heroics of the Kiwis that day and throughout the entire Middle East campaign are often overshadowed by the tragic events along the Western Front and Gallipoli, but a group is hoping to change that by unveiling a sculpture in the soldiers’ honour.
But if it wasn’t for an unlikely encounter that led Tauranga man Warren Dawson down a rabbit hole involving his grandfather and the name of his Omanawa subdivision, the commemoration may never have happened.
It’s a story full of so many coincidences it’s hard to believe it’s true — but it is.
Dawson’s grandfather, Corporal Gerald Douglas Dawson, was one of the Kiwis who fought in the Battle of Ayun Kara, which resulted in the liberation of Ness Ziona and Rishon LeZion.
The battle was an engagement in the Sinai and Palestine campaign during World War I and was fought between the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Turkish 3rd Infantry Division.
Gerald Dawson missed the Gallipoli campaign and joined the Wellington Mounted Rifles division, taking part in all campaigns the New Zealand brigade fought in the Holy Land between 1917 and 1918.
The Holy Land usually refers to a territory roughly encompassing the modern state of Israel and Palestinian territories.
After the battle, he spent a week of reprieve at Sarona, and the name followed him back to New Zealand because he was “really taken with it”, Warren Dawson said.
Gerald Dawson brought back to New Zealand his extensive campaign diary, letters, newspaper cuttings, a Turkish machinegun sight, a few copies of the Kia Ora Cooee Anzac Campaign magazine from 1918, and other items.
Warren Dawson is headed to Israel to unveil a sculpture - a replica of the one behind him - for Kiwis who fought there in WWI. Photo / Alex Cairns
Dawson said when he subdivided his Omanawa farm in 2006, “it seemed fitting” to name it Sarona Park.
He thought no more of the name until two Israelis showed up at his property after getting lost while looking for the Kaimai Cafe in 2018.
They were Yossi Eshed and his wife, who explained in 2006, Israeli authorities sealed off the piece of land his grandfather had camped out in and built roads, parks, and buildings — also naming it Sarona Park.
He also told Dawson about the battle and that the soldiers, including his grandfather, had been captured in a book written by Tauranga man Christopher Wilson Archer, who lived no more than 15 minutes away.
Together, the group went through Gerald Dawson’s old chest and the diary, which described details of the battle Archer wrote about and revealed he was one of five who left to fight that day but the only one to return.
Dawson, along with his wife Robyn, travelled to Israel in 2018 and retraced his grandfather’s steps from 100 years earlier.
They also were part of an unveiling at Gan Sorek, a village on the outskirts of Ness Ziona, where a sign telling the story of the campaign, the battle, the story of the Anzacs and the Dawson family story was erected.
The location was believed to be where the Wellington Mounted Rifles fought.
Now, members of the New Zealand Israel Friendship Association and the Dawson family are headed back to Gan Sorek to unveil a 4.5-metre silver fern sculpture, a replica of the one in the Sarona Park subdivision.
The memorial commemorates all 18,000 New Zealanders who served in the World War I Palestine campaign and the 53 who died.
“I’m humbled to be part of this amazing story,” Dawson told the Bay of Plenty Times.
“It’s become apparent to me in 2018 there was a drastic loss of information about some of the activities and as a grandson, I have a hand to be able to put it right.
“The Battle of Ayun Kara [was] won on the day against huge odds, and in doing so, liberated regions of the area that were Jewish settlements and still to this day deeply honour what New Zealand soldiers did.”
Captured in November 1917, Sarona played a key part in the British mandate period and early Israel state history.
New Zealand’s ambassador to Israel, Zoe Coulson-Sinclair, would attend the unveiling of the sculpture.
In a statement, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson “commend the New Zealand-Israel Friendship Association for their efforts in making the Fern Sculpture possible.”
A Givealittle page has been created to help cover the cost of the sculpture, as well as the maintenance of the parks and garden around the memorial.
