War past uncovered
Portrait of beloved Māori WWI soldier finds new home
A large framed portrait photograph of her greatuncle George Bennett in military uniform graced a wall in Julie Stubbs’ home in Otaihanga, for a long time.
She loved her great-uncle but knew very little about his military history. Until now.
Not only has she discovered his service in World War I, via a dedicated Royal New Zealand RSA member, but she’s secured a long-term home for the portrait and his war medals.
George, of Māori descent, was a much-loved man who lived in Waitarere Beach with his wife Emma.
He died when Julie was young but her fond memories of visiting and staying with the couple during school holidays have remained strong.
“He loved toheroa and pipis and would take us to the beach, where we would search for the toheroa holes, and show him where to dig. When we were back home he would cook them up for himself. We didn’t like them but Uncle George certainly did.
“He loved children and enjoyed having us visit.”
The portrait was in George and Emma’s house, but after they died, Julie took care of it.
“I asked my father for it because I loved George so much and had so many happy memories of him.”
Although Julie knew quite a bit about George’s life, she knew little about his military service in the war.
So she decided to contact the RSA and was put in contact with Mark Compain who is chairman of the national remembrance committee.
“I went around to Julie’s and she talked about George. She had a lot of treasured memories. She wanted to know more about his military service and where the portrait, his war medals and a fob watch [given to George by Emma in 1913] could go to.”
Mark did a lot of research and created an extensive booklet chronicling George’s service history, sourced from online records, then and now photos of the battlefields, and interwoven with Julie’s memories.
George, who was part of the New Zealand Machine Gun Corps, volunteered to go to war when he was 30.
The war was already two years old when he enlisted on October 25, 1916, and he would have been under no illusions about the dangers ahead.
“It’s a testament to his sense of duty,” Mark said.
George took part in the brutal Battle of Passchendaele on the Western Front and was part of the effort
to stop the German offensive in France and Belgium.
“The period that he was there was extremely busy and demanding of him and the 1st (NZ) Division.
“Even when they weren’t in battle they were holding lines and being subjected to shelling, raids, gas.”
Finding George’s war medals was a bit difficult but the mystery was solved when Julie’s cousin Rhys Parsonage, from Lower Hutt, was doing a spring clean in his house and opened a Princess Mary tin (which British and Empire soldiers received as a gift).
The tin comprised George’s British War medal, Victory medal, RSA badge, and Machine Gun Corps pin.
“I knew the medals were there but I didn’t know whose they were,” Rhys said.
“It wasn’t until I cleaned them up that I saw George’s name.”
Mark enjoyed chronicling George’s military service.
“It’s nice to see someone’s life in service become known again.
“It’s easy, at a distance, to think this happened a long time ago, and doesn’t really matter anymore, but the trauma of their service echoes through our generations today.
“It’s easy to forget what they went through.
“This is a really great way to make sure that George’s story isn’t lost. “It’s one of over 100,000 men and women who went overseas.
“It was nice to be able to do this for Julie who treasured and loved him, and able to bring that full circle in terms of filling that gap of her knowledge.”
Julie was humbled by the booklet. “I just wanted to know more about George, during the war, but didn’t expect to get so much.”
Rhys was impressed by the research too.
“Like Julie, I didn’t know about George’s military history, so it’s great to know so much.”
Julie and Rhys have donated the portrait, medals and fob watch to the RSA, which Mark was more than happy to accept.
“We’ve started the RNZRSA Collection, which was focused on postVietnam operational service predominantly, but there’s an opportunity here, as RSA’s contract and don’t have the same footprints, to make sure this memorabilia is protected in perpetuity.
“This will be donated to that collection, which will sit nationally, and will be the first physical artefacts of it. And at a time, if it becomes appropriate, another home for this could be the National Army Museum.
“The idea of these collections is to make these records and artefacts available to researchers and the public.”
Julie, in her early 80s, was happy to part with the treasured items.
“It’s going to a good home — that’s the main thing as far as I’m concerned.”