Film on soldier’s life
If you were to ask most New Zealanders today if they had heard of Major General Sir Andrew Russell, the answer would most likely be no.
Yet this son of Hawke’s Bay, from the pioneering sheep and beef station Tuna Nui, on the Napier-Taihape Road, was a born leader of men. He exhibited outstanding courage and leadership in the front line of warfare throughout the arduous years of World War I.
At a recent gathering at the Hastings Racecourse, more than 90 members, friends and guests of the Hawke’s Bay branch of the New Zealand Founders Society were treated to a luncheon followed by the documentary film, The Forgotten General, which outlined Major General Sir Andrew Russell’s life.
The Founders audience appreciated the presence of Phillida Russell, wife of the general’s late grandson, John Rolleston-Russell and Phillida’s son, Andrew Russell, great grandson of General Russell.
Phillida gave a short introduction to the film, sketching the background years of the Russell family in Hawke’s Bay. They began farming the Tuna Nui run in 1861.
The film portrayed a determined, efficient and highachieving man who shone in military matters. He graduated as top cadet of Sandhurst, before serving with the British army in India and Burma in the late 1800s.
Back in New Zealand, he formed the Hawke’s Bay Rifles. When war broke out in 1914 the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was formed under his command. They undertook further training in Egypt before being sent to Gallipoli.
At Gallipoli he led his men from the front line and earned high praise for his decision making and a style of leadership which showed “great concern” for their welfare. In December 1915, he commanded the evacuation of the Anzac rear guard group of 20,000 men from Gallipoli, with no lives lost.
For his command abilities at Gallipoli, he was knighted and made Major General, and in 1916, commanded the New Zealand Division sent to fight in France and Belgium. Against enormous odds, the Kiwis under his command fought bravely in the major battles of the Somme, Passchendaele and Messines.
In the final week of World War I, the New Zealand 3rd Rifle Brigade, under the command of Major General Russell, carried out a daring pre-dawn assault to free the northern French town of Le Quesnoy from German occupation.
Under early morning darkness, the Kiwis used ladders to access the walled town and secured the surrender of 1000 German troops who had occupied the area for four years. In sparing the use of heavy artillery and bombardment, the town remained intact and there were no civilian lives lost.
As a result, the town to this day honours New Zealand with a Garden of Remembrance, and other memorials and street names dedicated to New Zealand.
Major General Sir Andrew Russell died in 1960, aged 92, and is honoured with a bronze statue erected in 2015 which stands, fittingly, in Russell Street, Hastings. Russell Street was formerly Station Street and was renamed in his honour in 1921.
Founders Society members are descendants of the early settlerfounders of New Zealand. They have fresh opportunities to learn about settler history.
■ For more information about Founders contact Founders Hawke’s Bay secretary, Richard Bayley, phone 876 7616.