Flu brought death to Wairarapa

RESEARCH: Gareth Winter and documentary journalist Judy Bailey looking through volunteer nurse F.P. Welch's diary while at the Masterton Club.

SEVERAL years ago the Wairarapa Archive was approached by Auckland film-maker Screentime for some background information for a documentary series about New Zealand disasters. It was to be titled Descent from Disaster and to be focused on six significant New Zealand disasters, including plane and train crashes, ship-wrecks, mine explosions, the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake and the 1918 influenza epidemic. It was Wairarapa's experience in the latter that they were interested.

Of the six disasters, the 1918 epidemic killed by far the greatest number. The outbreak, which seems to have originated in the US in early 1918, spread around the globe. Estimates of the death vary wildly, but it seems that at least 25 million people lost their lives, far more than in World War I.

The first recorded cases of influenza in New Zealand were in Auckland in early October 1918, although after the pandemic had passed, many people blaming the returning troopship Niagara, which also carried the Prime Minister Massey. However, the ship docked in Auckland three days after the first New Zealand deaths.

The first recorded outbreak in Wairarapa was at the Featherston Military Camp, where large groups of young men, statistically the most prone group, were assembled. In early November the local newspapers were stating that the flu had struck the camp and 299 men had been hospitalised. The camp housed thousands of soldiers in training and the disease spread very quickly. By the middle of the month over 2000 men were being treated in the hospital and 22 had already died.

The first Masterton deaths were reported in the newspapers of November 13. Mastertonians had gathered in the streets to celebrate the end of World War I, little realising that some of them were already infected with the disease. Some of the crowd collapsed at the ceremonies held in Masterton Park and were rushed to Masterton Hospital. At the height of the Wairarapa pandemic the Masterton and Greytown hospitals were swamped with patients and nurses and doctors who had contracted the disease, meaning volunteer nurses and helpers were called for. Temporary hospitals were set up in many buildings through Wairarapa - in schools, clubs, and in the Masterton Borough Council Chambers. All schools were closed until the following year and most businesses were instructed to remain shut.

Among those who were pressed into service as volunteer nurses was the local businessman F.P. Welch, who left a good record of Masterton during the epidemic in his diary, now stored in the Wairarapa Archive. He writes of his many nights of service at the Masterton Club and the nearby Services Club, where he tried valiantly to help save the lives of those stricken with the flu.

The number of cases peaked about November 22 and, although more deaths occurred, fewer fresh cases were reported into December. By the end of December the pandemic was effectively over in Wairarapa. Figures for Wairarapa show that 400 people died, including 177 soldiers at Featherston Camp. There were 10.1 deaths for every 1000 head of population, figures greatly enhanced by the 22.6 per 1000 death rate at the Featherston Camp, and the 45.7 per 1000 death rate among Wairarapa Maori.

The epidemic struck Featherston Camp in a concentrated burst, from late October. The first death was on November 7 and the last, December 11. At the peak, almost 2500 men were sick. Although newspapers reported on the epidemic's effect on the country and in military camps, remarkably little was written by camp participants at the time. The Great War ended during the height of the influenza and it was a time of great anxiety and confusion in the camp and this may account for the lack of contemporary comment.

Director Bryn Evans was making the episode based on the influenza epidemic. He found that events in Wairarapa were representative of the epidemic, and discovered that Wairarapa Archive held records which would help his research. He talked to archivist Gareth Winter about events in Masterton and to Neil Frances about the effects of influenza at Featherston Military Camp.

Eventually, having thoroughly searched the holdings of memories and photographs at Wairarapa Archive, Bryn came up with a filming schedule, concentrating on F.P. Welch's work as a volunteer nurse, and the effects of the epidemic at Featherston Camp.

The film crew, with interviewer and narrator Judy Bailey, spent time at the Wairarapa Archive, perusing old records and newspapers, and then spent further time in the Masterton Club, looking at the plush surroundings that briefly served as an influenza hospital.

By the time the Screentime film crew arrived at Featherston Camp site it was late afternoon.

Several sequences were filmed in the gathering gloom on the main camp avenue, now well overgrown. Judy Bailey had a conversation with Neil Frances, the Wairarapa Archives military expert and author of a recent book on Featherston Camp, about the camp and the likely conditions at the time.

The film crew gained a valuable insight into the way the influenza epidemic affected a small but representative rural community and the country's biggest military camp.