Her brief was to write the stories of the 115 WWI soldiers whose names were inscribed on the Kaitaia memorial, and about where they were from (Kaitaia, Mangonui, Awanui, Fairburn, Kaiaka, Herekino, Whangape, Houhora, Waiharara, Kaingaroa, Ōruru, Peria, Pukepoto, Ahipara, Takahue, Te Kao and Victoria Valley), and conditions in the Far North prior to the war.
Students at Kaitaia College had already done significant research, but she soon realised that there was much more to tell, to do justice to "our soldiers."
"It was a much bigger job than first anticipated," she said.
So her research began, delving into war records, old newspapers, books, soldiers' diaries, letters, photographs, census lists, family trees, birth, death and marriage records. Many of the men's photos, taken before they sailed, had survived, but some could not be found despite her best efforts.
Writing, she said, was a solitary job, "a lonely place that only authors understand," but this time was different. Beatson was "a terrific support," and gave guidance on military matters, while Kaitaia man Ross Beddows offered the research he had done on a number of the soldiers. And she was introduced to Colonel Graeme Wilson and Lieutenant Colonel Jordi Garcia, both retired, both with great knowledge of World War I and the New Zealand Army's history.
Wilson's contribution included a section of the book covering the 70 cemeteries where the soldiers were buried.
"At last the men whose names appear on Kaitaia's World War I memorial have been given a voice," she added.
"We tell a little of their short lives, growing up in our peaceful country in its early stages of development. Then their enlistment, followed by military training, then sailing in cramped conditions for six or seven weeks to Egypt, desert training, then to the hell hole of Gallipoli, followed by the Western Front.
"It brings into the open some of the battles in which they fought... How they were forced to suffer, and finally the cemeteries in which they lie..."
"I have endeavoured to share with readers a regional record of life in the Far North, prior to World War I, and of what our young men who became soldiers endured. They deserve our greatest respect, and should be remembered."
National significance
Beatson, who thanked all involved in or who supported the book and/or the memorial restoration, including restoration group members' wives, partners and families, and the late Phil Cross and Paul Marshall, said Kaitaia's World War I memorial was of outstanding national historical and cultural significance. It was the first community war memorial erected in New Zealand, unveiled on March 24, 1916, and was believed to be the only one that was fully bilingual.
"The memorial is a special and outstanding place because of its early date for a World War I memorial, its poetic, bilingual text, its origination by Māori and concern for both Māori and Pākehā, and the prominence given to it both by the local community and by scholars of New Zealand war memorials," he said.
"On May 31, 2012, Kaitaia College dedicated a Roll of Honour listing the 41 names of past pupils who served in South Vietnam from 1965 to 1974. Kaitaia District High School/Kaitaia College contributed more young men to the conflict in Vietnam than any other secondary school in New Zealand. Most of the surviving veterans travelled to Kaitaia and attended the ceremony.
"At a function afterwards there was discussion on the war memorial angel's missing arm. The angel had been relocated twice, possibly spent time in storage, and somewhere along the way an arm had broken off, its whereabouts unknown.
"The memorial is a significant part of Kaitaia's history, and it was felt that the angel should be restored to its former grace and beauty. Accordingly, a restoration group was formed by the Vietnam War veteran. The group met and planned the memorial's refurbishment, and set the goal of having an angel with two arms, and the memorial being rededicated, on its 100th anniversary, March 24, 2016.
"The New Zealand Historic Places Trust registered Kaitaia's World War I memorial as a Category 1 historic place on October 31, 2012, and the memorial was rededicated on its centenary."
Over almost four years members of the restoration group spent thousands of hours and travelled tens of thousands of kilometres, working on the project, he added. Fundraising and the refurbishment of the memorial created a good deal of public interest, and a considerable amount of history was gathered in a variety of forms, including by way of entries from students in the annual memorial competition.
"It was felt that the history gathered was extremely important, and that if nothing was done to capture it in a meaningful way it would be lost, possibly for ever. Accordingly, it was decided that the writing of a book should be commissioned, and fundraising continued.
"The restoration group committed to the publication of the book They Shall Grow Not Old: WWI Soldiers of the Far North. We were extremely fortunate in being able to persuade Kaye Dragicevich to take on the task of writing it for us."
Eighty-seven names were inscribed on the memorial, with 28 more on a bronze plaque that was added at its rededication on March 24, 2016, those names providing the pivot upon which the book was based.
"It has taken nearly four years of meetings, fundraising, research, contacting and meeting with families, obtaining photographs, diaries and other material, writing, fact-finding, proof-reading, editing, liaising with printers and other agencies, and a lot more, to arrive at this point," Beatson said.
"The stories of each the 115 soldiers named on the memorial are told; their excitement as they set off from home, their training, the journey to foreign lands, the battles, the hardships and privation of life in the trenches, and show why their names are on the memorial. There is also a record of their final resting places.
"This book preserves some of the Far North's history for future generations, but it is not about us. It is not our book. It is about the Far North, and it belongs to the Far North."
