Pride and sorrow at soldiers' costly sacrifice

Rex Harris amid the crosses row on row in the temporary Remembrance Field to Tauranga's dead from World War I. Photo / John Borren

The end of a war that was supposed to end all wars was commemorated in a touching ceremony against the backdrop of a busy day in Greerton.

Few people streaming past in their cars could have guessed that the little group braving the heat in front of Greerton Hall was commemorating the armistice that ended World War I.

By the time the guns fell silent on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918, a total of 107 men from Tauranga and Mount Maunganui had perished in a war that became a byword for slaughter on a massive scale.

Crosses symbolising the small town's sacrifice of so many of its young men dotted the temporary Field of Remembrance set up on the lawn fronting the ceremony led by Heather Waldron.

All the traditional touches were there for RSA commemoration services including the Ode to the Fallen, the flag lowering and the bugler playing the Last Post.

The difference was an address by a veteran of the Malaya and Borneo campaigns Rex Harris MBE, recently arrived in Papamoa from Christchurch. Mr Harris summarised New Zealand's contribution to WWI that saw more than 10 per cent of this outpost of the British Empire enlist in the armed forces. It included the worst single day in our military history when 3700 men were mown down at the start of the Battle of Passchendaele.

In the midst of the sorrow and grief that touched every family during WWI, there was something else, he said. "There was pride, pride to have done the job and pride to be part of the team."

The rest of Mr Harris' address departed from what was typical for commemoration services when he described the sacrifices made by his great uncles.

Bert Harris and Edgar Harris both served on Gallipoli, with Bert invalided back to Thames Hospital where he spent months recuperating from wounds and shell shock.

His Uncle Edgar got a citation for saving the life of a sergeant at grenade practice when the grenade fired from a .303 rife did not have enough charge and fell to the ground. He scooped it up and threw it over the parapet before it exploded.

Two of his grandmother's brothers died overseas, with William Cuff dying from an illness in Egypt in 1916 and Joshua Cuff killed in action in France in 1917.

In 2007 Mr Harris visited Passchendaele where so many New Zealanders died and was moved to tears by the hopelessness of the attack on terrain swept by German machine guns.

The ceremony also featured the wreath laying by Tauranga RSA president Dick Frew and prayers from Reverend John Hebenton of St George's Anglican Church.