Slayings trauma put aside at Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA

By DITA DE BONI

Surviving heartache old and new was the mantra at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA yesterday as the club put to one side a traumatic year to remember those lost to the brutality of distant battlefields.

Five months ago, on the morning of December 8, club president Bill Absolum, member Wayne Johnson and cleaner Mary Hobson were found slain at the RSA premises.

Part-time accountant Susan Couch is recovering well from critical head and arm injuries suffered in the attack.

Two men face murder charges over the killings.

The Herald yesterday found a club determined to move on from those events as it celebrated Anzac Day.

No one exemplified that spirit more than Tai Hobson, whose wife died in the triple homicide. Mr Hobson was pouring drinks at the bar for thirsty members after a parade and church service yesterday, just metres from where his wife and her colleagues lost their lives.

He said the day had been a good one, although he was sad to think that Mary would normally drive people to and from the Anzac Day church service.

"I try to forget about that day," he said. "Of course, I never forget my wife."

One member said the efforts of the executive board to assist people through the hard times had helped the close-knit community of members, many of whom had bounced back from a difficult Christmas.

"And security is tight here now," he said.

But the day was about commemorating those lost to international war efforts, as well as those returned from battle, and Mt Wellington-Panmure president Alan Eastwood made no mention of the slayings in his address to the community.



The official part of the day ended as it began, with a parade of the veterans, Scouts and Guides, St John Ambulance, naval personnel from the frigate Te Kaha and Army cadets.

They moved between the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA premises and the Panmure Community Hall 10 minutes away, the veterans easily keeping the best time to the brass band's insistent oompah-pah.

One man had come from Melbourne to celebrate the day and the memory of his grandfather, namesake William Ormsby, a member of the first Maori Battalion, who were armed only with shovels and called diggers in World War 1.

His grandfather, who died in 1964, was one of only 38 men of 200 to return from battle alive, he said.

"Over there [Australia] they lump everyone together, while here every separate group is commemorated," Mr Ormsby said.

"It's really important that everyone is remembered for what they did."

Feature: Anzac Day

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