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Friday 12 Sept:

Raining, so bought a very expensive map of the battlefields and then into the local Ieper Museum. Some very good displays about the war in Flanders, but no mention of NZ, in fact, the only things I saw was one small 'Onwards' badge from WW1. After lunch in the hotel (in our room - the dining room was very expensive!), and a short rest we drove to the Messines area. The rain having cleared we searched for the famous mine craters which were blown on 7 June 1917 before the attack. We found the famous Spanbroekmolen crater, after a muddy walk through a farmer's tilled field, only to find we could have driven right there on a different road. This mine had a strange history - due to problems caused by the suspicious Germans it failed to blow on schedule, but was 19 seconds late. The poor Irish Rifles had been told that the mines might not go off so they were to attack on schedule - they were out of their trenches and moving forward and many died. They are all buried in the tiny Lone Tree Cemetery close to where they fell. The pool is now surrounded by lovely trees and deserves its title of Pool of Peace.

The mines were along a circle of about 6 km surrounding the town of Messines.

Looking from the pillbox blown up at the edge of the pool one can see why it was so important to the Germans to hold this high ground and how well our troops did to win it. Then we moved on to the twin Kruistraat craters in farmland a bout half a kilometre away. Interesting but not so picturesque today as they are not surrounded by trees, but green fields.

After that we drove to the Messines Ridge cemetery - full of NZers, mostly killed on 7 June. I found the grave of Archie Greves' friend, one of three shepherds from the station next to him in Hawkes Bay, all killed in the Messines attack. I also saw the grave of a man from Wellsford named Ramsay - his parents from there were called Ramsbottom - I guess he did not want the name to bedevil his army career!

Back home to a pasta dinner in the Square and on to a rather smaller Last Post ceremony.

Saturday 13 September:

A fine but cloudy morning so we drove back to Dochy Farm and did another walk through the old NZ battlefield with names such as Gallipoli and Pommern Castle.Through gently undulating country now largely in amidst fields of corn (which stopped our views) and pasture and unknown leafy crops. We went past a beautiful little memorial to Ivor Gurney, war poet and later a mental patient who died early. His poems on the memorial were really moving. We stopped at a farm entrance to admire and photograph a 'sculpture' made of odd bits and pieces in the form of a field gun. The owner came out and greeted us in excellent English. He first showed us his barn made of battlefield debris and used as a first house after the war. Then into his own wonderful house full of re-cycled timbers and wonderful sculptures he had made of re-cycled materials.He showed us some of his war memorabilia and had his wife give us very good coffee while he told us of the post-war experience. For years the land was a hopeless mess of poisoned soil from the gas and high explosive full of unexploded shells, and later the first successful crops were destroyed by millions of rats and mice, before the land could once again become fertile. Even today they are constantly digging up shells, bullets, hand grenades, etc., which they leave by the side of the road to be collected and blown up. The gas shells are a bigger problem now they no longer can dump them in the sea. Even recently there have been fatalities - often from new machinery disturbing the soil in a different way.

We could have had clips of .303 bullets, but they were still dangerous to take home by air, so he just gave us a handful of shrapnel lead balls (they could have come from shells supplied by Dad!). He also had an amazing collection of large format war photos of the battlefields, troops, dead soldiers, blown up tanks, etc. We finally left after about 2 hours - what a nice man!

Then up onto the Messines ridge where we wanted to do the Australian walk to Passchendaele recently completed. The first part led through a railway cutting (no longer in use) with photos of dead, wounded, and completely shell shocked Australians sheltering there during the attack. After about a kilometre we found the track deteriorated to a muddy ditch through dense nettles and blackberry with water which would have been over the tops of our boots, leaving us with no alternative but to turn back. Then we found with difficulty because of local car racing the Passchendaele Cemetery with 126 New Zealanders among the Australian and Canadian graves (the Canadians finally took the town after the Massacre of the second NZ attack which was sheer lunacy on the part of the senior generals who ordered it. With the battlefield deep in mud, the guns and ammunition unable to be brought up to cut the wire and no heavy guns to take out the concrete pill boxes (18 ounders merely bounced off them) they were ordered to attack in a position which no troops in the world could have taken. There were 60 percent casualties and it is said to have broken the spirit of the NZ Division for months. Dad's account of the horrendous time they had trying to get ammunition up to the guns is only part of the worst day in NZ history.

Back home we went to the Last Post |ceremony and were delighted to see a group of NZ Officers laying wreaths on behalf of the NZ army. Their 'lemon squeezer' hats reminded me of my own time spent wearing one in the army. Because of the special occasion I wore Dad's medals on the right and my own on the left and my gunner's badge on my cap. I was also able after the ceremony to present photos of the buglers when they performed at Hamilton last year. One of those present that night had been at Hamilton and was delighted to see himself on film there.

Sunday 14 September:

A superb morning. We drove to Zonnebeke where we caught a free bus to the back side of Polygon Wood where there was a considerable gathering for the unveiling of a plaque to honour Henry Nicholas VC, MM, won on the 3 December 1917, during the NZ attack on Polderhoek Chateau. He actual location of his action was few hundred metres away in the green paddock opposite the road. The NZ army contingent led by a Brigadier, with a NZ piper and Menengate buglers all formed up for the arrival of the NZ ambassador who unveiled the plaque. Afterwards we were taken for a walk through the forest by a local historian, during which I talked with the ambassador (we have a mutual friend - an ex-student who is now an ambassador in the Middle East), and his wife. Talking with a Belgian man who was very interested in the action he bent down along the muddy track, picked up an old army web belt buckle and presented it to me. The kindness we NZers receive there is amazing.

After walking through the wood and photographing a bunker built by NZ engineers we arrived at the Buttes New British Cemetery where there was another ceremony to honour the NZ troops who were known to have died locally but have no known grave. There was a powhiri, etc., and more laying of wreaths by the local mayor (whose sash of office replicates Waikato sporting colours!) and the Mayor of Le Quesnoy from the Somme (more on Le Quesnoy later), and the NZ ambassador. After the ceremony I photographed the name of George Sheat who died with 13 other Otagos on 'a day that nothing happened' and none of whom have known graves. George's nephew John Sheat has tramped with me for many years and it really added a lot of meaning to the ceremony for me. After they took us back to Zonnebeke again by bus we drove back to walk in Polygon Wood again and take photos, before going home to watch the end of Ieper Marathon.

Below is the report on the web for this day:

Nicholas VC Plaque Unveiled

Published on September 15th 2008

A plaque to Sergeant Henry Nicholas VC, MM, was dedicated today on the brow of a sunlit hill in Flanders overlooking the Polderhoek Chateau valley and heights where the Canterbury and Otago regiments lost so many men in the devastatingly hard winter of 1917.

Some 350 people crowded onto a narrow country road in Belgium for the brief ceremony led by the New Zealand Defence Force, the New Zealand Embassy in Brussels, the Zonnebeke (Passchendaele) District Council and the Memorial Museum Passchendaele.

The ceremony was followed by a guided walk through Polygon Wood which included visits to dug-outs constructed by New Zealand engineers during a winter that remains one of the worst in European history.

There was then a service at the New Zealand Memorial to the Missing at Buttes New British Cemetery in the woods, a cemetery widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and peaceful of all those in Flanders. Around 500 people were present for the commemoration led by the Reverend Niki Francis, Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Belgian Army Guard was inspected by the New Zealand Ambassador Peter Kennedy and the Mayor of Zonnebeke Dirk Cardoen after the official party was welcomed by a karanga sung by a Ngati Ranana member.

In his address Mr Cardoen recalled that the New Zealanders had paid the highest price proportionately of all countries in the Passchendaele region, while Mr Kennedy noted that New Zealand normally honoured its dead at Messines and Tyne Cot. It was rare that there was a service to the missing at the Buttes memorial. The Ambassador's address was supported by Nadell Karatea-Kokiri and Rachel Filiata of Ngati Ranana.

Paul Turner, a New Zealander who was formerly a professional piper in Scotland and who performed in Flanders last year with the Wairarapa-based Celtic folk group Wild Geese, played the Lament for Murdo Mackenzie prior to the laying of wreaths. Paul had played twice at the Menin Gate, visited a school, taught young pipers and advised the Passchendaele Pipes and Drums during a week-long visit.

Wreaths were laid by the Ambassador, the Mayor and representatives of the New Zealand and Belgian Defence Forces, as well as the Mayoress of Beaudignies Mme Raymonde Dramez, and the First Alderman of Le Quesnoy, M Michel Guoyt. Sergeant Nicholas was killed in October 1918 close to Beaudignies, France, which in turn is close to Le Quesnoy, finally liberated by the New Zealanders towards the end of the First World War. A private wreath was laid by Mrs Holt, of Major and Mrs Holt's battlefield guides which have been published for Flanders since the 1970s.

Charlotte Whiting, a young New Zealander, read "Life in the Trenches", which was followed by prayers and The Last Post and Reveille sounded by buglers from the Menin Gate. Brigadier Warren Whiting recited The Ode and the national anthems were played by the Zonnebeke Harmony brass band.

In the afternoon, an additional 400-500 people toured the area of the Nicholas plaque, Polygon Wood, Buttes and the New Zealand winter frontline of 1917 with expert guides provided by the Memorial Museum Passchendaele.