Dannevirke: Commemoration salutes soldiers past

Ian Barnett (left), Ian Frame, Gary Cameron and John Robertson with the first of 32 lifesized soldiers being created by members of Dannevirke's MenzShed for this Saturday's Chunuk Bair commemoration in the Town Hall.

Dannevirke men have rolled up their sleeves and gone into the trenches at the MenzShed to create lifesized replicas of our local soldiers who served at the Battle of Chunuk Bair.

"We've one soldier completed and just 31 to go," a very satisfied MenzShed member Ian Barnett said. "Our soldiers even look like they've been in battle, with the screws looking like bullet holes."

Mr Barnett and fellow MenzShed volunteers have been working on the replicas for three weeks, in preparation for Dannevirke's Chunuk Bair commemoration in the Town Hall this Saturday, August 8.

"We've got great satisfaction from working on this project and when we walk into our workshop and see the figures looming there it gives us quite a shock," Mr Barnett said. "This is quite a remarkable project."

It is expected the sight of the 32 lifesized cutouts assembled in the Town Hall will be a stark reminder of what effect this battle had on our district.

"Of the 32 from Dannevirke who fought in the battle, 30 were either killed or wounded," said Rob McDonald, author of A Small Community and a Great War: The Dannevirke District and WWI.

Mr McDonald's book tells of the sacrifices of those locals who went to World War I and the way the war shaped our district.

To emphasise the commitment, 16 of the lifesized soldiers will be painted black, representing those who died, 14 will be red - those who were wounded - and the two remaining will be khaki, the only two not hurt in the battle. With their names, the date of their death and some fitting quotes from Mr McDonald's book, the World War I committee are confident this will be a graphic reminder of Dannevirke's involvement in the battle.

Last week, the first of the replicas made its way to the Tararua District Council's business hub, where staff member Kimberley Stevens has been working on a prototype for the dog tags that will hang around the neck of each soldier.

"Seeing this replica so authentic really tugs on the heartstrings," Kimberley said. "He [the soldier] looks so cool."

Kimberley's research into the dog tags has been extensive. "We'll even use black cord to hang them around the necks of the replicas, because it appears anything the soldiers could get their hands on, including twine, was used," she said.

"Each dog tag will include the soldier's name and unit. A second tag will record the soldier's age, his link to our district, any previous job, and in some cases a quote from Mr McDonald's book."

The stark reminders of Dannevirke's commitment to the Battle of Chunuk Bair will be on display at the Town Hall from 2pm this Saturday.

The commemoration concert, A Time to Remember, begins at 3pm, but the Town Hall will open at 2pm so people can see the Gallery of History display, the soldiers and buy copies of Mr McDonald's book.

Battle took heavy toll

The Battle for Chunuk Bair commemoration is one of the key national and international commemorations during the World War I centenary.

The battle was the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces' most significant action in the Gallipoli Campaign. It took place from August 6 to 10, in 1915, and was part of the August Offensive in which the Allies attempted to seize the Sari Bair heights from Ottoman forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

The Wellington Battalion seized Chunuk Bair on August 8, but it and other New Zealand units suffered heavy losses and Chunuk Bair was lost on August 10 after sustained Ottoman counterattacks.