Dipton trooper’s ultimate sacrifice
Gallipoli. August 21, 1915. Relentless gunfire fills the air. Inside a trench, Arthur Parker crouches, waiting for his moment. More than 30 men lie wounded beside him.
With the help of his fellow stretcher bearers, he has returned them all to safety.
But another remains outside the trench, bullets whizzing past.
Just 24 years old and with his captain invalided in hospital, the trooper from Dipton has taken charge.
But age is no barrier and fear is not a factor.
Crawling out from the trench, he makes a beeline for his wounded comrade.
A shot rings out and Parker falls to the ground.
His last mission has failed, but inside the trench lie more than 30 men who owe their lives to the Dipton trooper’s heroics. Brian McNaughton stares up at a portrait with an admiring smile.
He’s been looking at it his whole life, but it’s never any less significant.
From his childhood home to the home he now shares with his wife Jean, Arthur Parker – the man known as ‘‘Bunt’’ – has always been a focal point.
‘‘He’s always been the favourite son of the family,’’ McNaughton says.
‘‘It was a big family and all the brothers apart from one who stayed home to produce food for the troops went to war.
‘‘The family never talked about where they were or what they were doing – in those days you had a job to do and you went and did it.
‘‘ ‘Bunt’ obviously followed that because he died doing his duty and saving others.’’
McNaughton is one of three of Parker’s surviving nieces and nephews.
His cousin Hugh Aitchison, son of former Invercargill mayor William Aitchison, still has Guthrie’s original letter and treats it as one of his most treasured possessions.
Now 78 and living in Whangamata after a long career with H & J Smiths in Invercargill, Aitchison said the family could think of no better time to finally tell the untold story of his uncle’s selfless sacrifice.
‘‘I’ve always been touched by the story of my Uncle Arthur and as you get older you think, ‘Crikey, something better be done about this’,’’ Aitchison said.
‘‘I’ve had a growing realisation over the past few years that it’s a story that needs to be told and what better time to do it than on the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day. What he did still means so much to us.’’