Avon Roderique

Young when he enlisted, Avon Roderique died unmarried and childless.

Roderique is not an uncommon name in Southland. There are plenty of them in the phone book, and almost all of them spoken to for this story had heard of Avon Roderique — and what he did — but had few details to share.

That wasn’t reticence: while they knew the basic story, its details have seemingly not been passed down the generations.

However, they did not condemn Avon Roderique — and, possibly, neither did his community.

Although Roderique’s military record has ‘‘Ineligible for medals, etc’’ written in large red letters across the top, Southland still honoured the fact that Avon Roderique served King and Country: his name is on war memorials in Invercargill, Riverton and Colac Bay.

Either noone knew the story — or everyone knew the story and chose to ignore it.

Possibly, just possibly, Roderique’s community decided the tragic affair was the act of a young man who had gone to war, and whose mind rebelled at having to see and do battle again.

A hundred years on, no evidence remains . . . just documents, stories and tantalising questions. (Research by Bryce Horrell, Iain Davidson and Maggie Petch was of great assistance in writing this story.)