Tararua World War I children share a special bond

Dannevirke's Pat Todd, with a photo of her father Angus Stewart, who was a bosom in the Royal Navy during World War I. Photo / Christine McKay

Photos and distant memories are all many Tararua children of World War I soldiers have of their fathers, but when they came together on Sunday to remember, there was a special bond.

The lunch at the Dannevirke Services and Citizens Club, was the brainchild of two World War I children, Liz Edwards and June Carr and they were delighted more than 50 people attended the sometimes emotional event.

Like so many others, all Pat Todd has left of her father Angus Stewart is his photo and two war medals.

Angus and his three brothers joined the Royal Navy from their home in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

"My dad, a boson, spent most of his time up by the Arctic on board his ship taking food to soldiers in Europe. He served on sail and steam ships. His brother Peter lost his life when his ship went down ."

Angus went around Cape Horn by sail and also sailed into Napier to collect food.

"The Arctic cold left him crippled with terrible arthritis, but he was often called on to splice ropes. He was an expert at it," Pat said.

Dave Pawson's father, Sergeant Walter Pawson and his two brothers, served in Belgium and France and like most returned soldiers, he didn't talk about his experiences.

"Dad was 42 when he married. So late, because of the war, us children were born late and mum did everything 20 years after everyone else. She didn't drive a car until she was 60," he said.

"One story dad did tell was of the time he was in the trenches and a high-ranking officer arrived. He was told to keep down, he didn't and they carried him out dead after a sniper got him."

Dave's sister Jill, from Tauranga, joined him at the lunch. Nancy Wadsworth's father served in World War I, along with his brother, who didn't return.

"My father came home in 1917 and married my mother," she said.

"His leg had been partially shot away and he died when I was 10 years old. I was one of nine children and my father was a great story-teller, but he never mentioned the war."

Mary Reuben's dad went to war in 1916.

"He had been turned down earlier because of a heart murmur, but after they'd lost so many men they'd take anyone," she said.

"My dad served in France, before being invalided to London. He married in London in 1919 and had nine children. We now have the fifth generation of our family serving in the military. Like so many, my dad never talked about the war."

While everyone knew little of the war from their fathers, they did hear of the stench on the Somme and the mud.

Fred Allardice's father and his brothers served in World War I and said when they returned they tried to forget the bad times, instead remembering the good times with their mates.

Guest speaker, Roly Ellis, the vice-president of the East Coast District RSA, who served with the 15/19th The Kings Royal Hussars Regiment, said many now remember a lost generation.

"During my time serving with the regiment, I visited a number of battlefields and realised the shocking young age of those who had lost their lives in unbelievable conditions. It was the same at Gallipoli," he said.

"And we cannot forgot those who were left behind, most of all the mothers."

Tararua District mayor Tracey Collis, whose uncles served overseas, said it was incredibly special knowing all those at the lunch were the children of World War I servicemen.

"My grandmother held her family together and in the absence of their mother, she watched her grandsons go to war," he said.

"The RSA will always have my 100 per cent support in memory of my family."