Tapestry tells war stories
A 44-panel tapestry has travelled more than 18,000 kilometres to illustrate the story of an Anzac hospital.
The Mount Felix Tapestry, which was started by the Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre in Walton-on-Thames, to the west of London, is now on display at Papakura Museum in south Auckland. Soon it will head to other cities for a one-year tour of New Zealand.
The tapestry commemorates the Number 2 NZ General Hospital in Walton, which treated about 27,000 wounded Kiwi soldiers during the course of World War I.
Its colourful wool embroidery shows the town scenery, soldiers’ kapa haka and bright yellow flowers from Walton’s kowhai tree memorial.
The tapestry’s Scottish designer, Andrew Crummy, said it also showed the support Kiwis received far away from home.
‘‘Out of the horror of war came care, love and prosperity.’’
Karaka resident Christine Duncan’s grandfather, Randal Browne, was one of the soldiers immortalised on the tapestry.
One of the panels shows his wedding to Edith, a Walton woman who worked as a nurse during World War I.
Duncan said she had grown up knowing the story of her grandfather’s war service.
‘‘We are grateful to the ladies who stitched these panels and immortalised our family story amongst them.’’
A newly-designed panel featuring Sir Clutha Mackenzie, who was blinded at Gallipoli and went on to become director of the Jubilee Institute for the Blind in Parnell, will be completed by volunteers during its journey throughout New Zealand.
Mackenzie’s granddaughter, Bridget Cameron, put the first stitches on the linen when she attended the launch from Cambridge with family members.
‘‘I am thrilled with the new panel. It is amazing that the designer, Andrew Crummy, has managed to capture a likeness to Clutha, and I like the way he has included the other family members,’’ Cameron said.
* The Mt Felix Tapestry is on display at Papakura Museum until September 23, and will later go to Christchurch, Hamilton, Wellington, Dunedin, Hawke’s Bay and Waiouru. See mountfelixtapestry.co.uk for more details.