Wairarapa farmer Bill Hallett had his wife Rosemary shave his beard for a WWI commemorative march. Photo / Supplied
Wairarapa farmer Bill Hallett had his wife Rosemary shave his beard for a WWI commemorative march. Photo / Supplied
Wairarapa farmer Bill Hallett is taking a World War I commemorative march so seriously he's shaved off his distinctive, 35-year-old beard.
And it was his wife Rosemary who had the shaving honours before seeing her husband clean shaven for the first time.
His actions are so that he can resemble a clean-shaven WWI soldier during this Sunday's 21km Rimutaka Re-enactment March -- an official WWI commemorative event.
"I've been told that WWI soldier's weren't allowed facial hair and it was only officers who were allowed a moustache - so to make the re-enactment march as authentic as possible I decided it was finally time to farewell my beard," said Mr Hallett, a former marine engineer in the New Zealand Navy.
"Thankfully my wife Rosemary was more than happy to share my enthusiasm and agreed to shave it off. It will be the first time in the 10 years we've known each other, she's seen me clean shaven."
Mr Hallett is one of 250 registered marchers set to mark 100 years since soldiers marched from the Featherston Military Camp in the Wairarapa, over the Rimutaka Hill to awaiting ships in Wellington harbour bound for war.
He will be part of a small platoon of marchers wearing replica WWI uniforms supplied by WingNut Films and will march alongside other direct descendants of soldiers that trained at Featherston Camp, a group of cadets and New Zealand Army personnel.
Mr Hallett is marching in memory of his great grandfather on his mother's side, Percy Blackburn, a Lance Corporal in the Second Battalion of the Otago Regiment.
Bill Hallett has had his beard for 35 years. Photo / Supplied
Mr Hallett has military records and a photo showing that Mr Blackburn was part of Operations Gravenstafel (September 29, 1917 to October 5, 1917) in Belgium and that he was awarded a Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty after volunteering to obtain information under heavy fire.
Rimutaka Re-enactment March event organiser Robert "Tweet" Bird, a former NZ Army chef, showed his support for Mr Hallett by observing the beard shave-off at the weekend.
"I think it's great what Bill has done - it shows awesome commitment to the march and a sign of respect to all those soldier's we will walk in memory of," he said.
Mr Bird admitted he also had a slight change in appearance since training for the march - shedding 8kg of weight.
Rimutaka Re-enactment March
The 250 registered for the event will leave from Camp Rd, Featherston and march in formation to the Featherston Cenotaph where a wreath will be laid. They will then wind up the Rimutaka Hill Road aiming to be at the summit by 7am for a break and to join invited guests in unveiling a new WWI commemorative structure.
The marchers will then resume their journey down the other side to finish at Kaitoke. They will be transported to Upper Hutt where they will march through the main streets and lay a second wreath at the Upper Hutt memorial before marching onto Griffin Field (old CIT site) about 12.20pm. Here, they will be welcomed in by officials, family and members of the public. With the support of the NZ Defence Force, there will also be military equipment displays, re-enactment demonstrations, food stalls and children's entertainment happening from 11am.
