Private David Stewart who died on Mt Ruapehu with five others during a 1990 Army training exercise. Photo / Supplied
Private David Stewart who died on Mt Ruapehu with five others during a 1990 Army training exercise. Photo / Supplied
The campaign to secure heightened recognition for a soldier’s selfless act of courage has hit a hurdle - and there are suggestions that it’s because of the attention such praise would bring to one of our military’s most embarrassing peacetime disasters.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has said there will be no fresh consideration of a new bravery award for Private David Edward Whawhai Stewart, 23, who died during a ferocious blizzard on Mt Ruapehu in 1990 while taking part in an ill-planned winter training exercise.
Stewart was one of six killed during the exercise with the subsequent military inquiry finding “his efforts to assist others were largely instrumental in causing his own death”.
Evidence from one of those who survived asserted Stewart’s courage on Ruapehu, saying: “I would not be here but for his actions”.
The officer who led the Army inquiry in 1990, retired Colonel Bernard Isherwood, has fought for years to have Stewart’s courage on the mountain recognised.
The rejection of the campaign to recognise Stewart’s sacrifice has Isherwood questioning whether the New Zealand Defence Force’s institutional embarrassment over the bungled training operation stands in the way.
“I can only put it down to embarrassment that this happened. In terms of medallic recognition, Major General (Bruce) Meldrum was very reluctant. It was very embarrassing for Defence at the time.”
It was Meldrum who stood in the way of Stewart being awarded the George Cross, for which he was nominated by two senior officers in the immediate wake of the disaster.
Stewart was finally awarded the New Zealand Bravery Medal in 1999 - nine years after the fatal incident and the same year Isherwood retired - but the argument has raged since over the level of recognition he received.
Sonny Te Rure (now Tavake) and Rayner Berger recovering in the hospital at Waiouru. Photo / Supplied
The award granted Stewart was the least of those given to those “who save or attempt to save the life of another person and in the course of which they place their own safety or life at risk”, as described in the nomination form for bravery awards.
The formal description for the Royal honour granted to Stewart showed it recognised “acts of bravery” while the immediately higher ranking award was for “acts of exceptional bravery in situations of danger”.
The highest - “the New Zealand Cross” - recognised “acts of great bravery in situations of extreme danger”.
Stewart died after 180 km/h winds ripped away the sleeping bag he had volunteered to share with two others. He did so during blizzard conditions under what the military inquiry found was a lack of leadership.
The latest step in the campaign resulted in a letter to Isherwood from Minister of Defence Andrew Little, who told him the case had been escalated to the Prime Minister’s office by his predecessor, Peeni Henare.
Little told Isherwood there would be no change to the award Stewart received. He said Hipkins acknowledged the courage displayed by Stewart and others on the mountain during the tragedy, accepting those seeking a higher reward had views that were “strongly and validly held.
“However, the Prime Minister was of the view that it was important to uphold the long-established principle that decisions about awards of this kind were best made while all the relevant information was readily available, recall of the events was clear and the actions concerned could be considered against the standards and values of the time and other contemporary examples.”
Isherwood, a former commanding officer of the NZSAS, said the “standards and values of the time” likely counted against awarding Stewart proper recognition because of the enormous embarrassment the disaster caused the military.
Kathleen Stewart, mother of David Stewart, and chief of army Major General John Boswell at the ceremony to recognise Stewart's bravery. Photo / NZDF
“Does someone giving their life for their colleagues in 1990 diminish over time? Why did it take nine years - and why didn’t he get the George Cross?”
He said the training exercise was part of an NZ Army attempt to plug experience gaps that had emerged during almost two decades in which there were no deployments allowing the development of combat experience.
It led to the development of the Army Adventurous Training Centre at Waiouru and courses such as that being conducted on Ruapehu.
Isherwood said the purpose of the AATC was fixed in his mind when leading the Court of Inquiry into the incident. Of those taking part, he said:” “None of them had ever been in contact (with an opposing force). Most of them had never been above the snow line.”
Green and young, the group found themselves fighting for their lives in a scenario where - the inquiry found - leadership was absent. Those young soldiers took command, said Isherwood, “Stewart particularly”.
He said Stewart’s bravery was emblematic of what the Army asked of its soldiers - to step up with courage when a situation turned bad. “It is an integral part of Army culture.”
One of those who survived, then Lance Corporal Barry Culloty, wrote Isherwood a statement in support of Stewart in which he said: “I have no doubt in my mind that if he had chosen to take care of himself he would be here today.
“He chose instead to put others before himself and to risk time and again his own survival to help those unable to help themselves. All this in an extreme environment where we were novices left to our own devices.
“I would not be here but for his actions. That is the man he was.”
Kathleen Stewart, mother of David Stewart, and chief of army Major General John Boswell at the ceremony to recognise Stewart's bravery. Photo / NZDF
Stewart and the five others killed on the mountain died of hypothermia although Culloty’s statement tells the bleak story of how they effectively froze to death.
The Court of Inquiry report described how Stewart “would have been fully aware that his actions in continually moving out of shelter and the warmth of his sleeping bag to assist those with hypothermia meant he had an increased chance of also becoming a casualty.
“He was also aware that he was becoming increasingly exhausted by the continual battling of the elements.”
The report found there was inadequate instruction and preparation prior to the training exercise. It concluded the inadequate skill levels of the instructors – both of whom survived – were a major contributory factor in the deaths of the six servicemen.
The inquiry also noted that the party had no communications equipment. Help was sought by an instructor and soldier who made a 13-hour hike to raise the alarm.
Seven in the group of 13 survived with privates Sonny Te Rure (now Tavake) and Brendon Burchell - one of the two who set out for help - also recognised for their courage.
A plaque was unveiled last year in Stewart’s memory at Linton army camp. His mother, Kathleen Kotiro Stewart of Whakatāne, jointly unveiled the plaque with the head of the army, Major General John Boswell.
