KURI BUSH, NORTH OF TAIERI MOUTH OTAGO ENGULFED IN WORLD WAR 1, 1917

It is now just a grassed paddock with a nice view southwards to Moturata/Taieri Island, the only chunk of land between this coast and the Antarctic. But this grassy knoll is the spot where a man lived whose name has become synonymous with New Zealanders’ experiences of the horrors of World War 1, even though he never took up arms.

During the four years it took to fight the planet’s first global war, almost 100,000 New Zealanders served overseas. About one in five died. Of those killed, about 4000 were from Otago and Southland, including almost 2000 from Dunedin. It had a deep and lasting impact on the region and the country.

Eleven New Zealanders were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military medal, during World War 1. But even better known than Otago’s VC recipient Donald Brown is conscientious objector Archibald Baxter.

The father of poet James K. Baxter was raised in a poor farming family on Saddle Hill, Dunedin. By 1914, the then 33yearold was a committed pacifist. Military conscription in late 1916 resulted in Baxter being imprisoned and then shipped to the frontlines in Europe. There he was subjected to Field Punishment No 1 (aka ‘‘the Crucifixion’’) — being tied tightly to a post in the open for

up to four hours a day in all weather. The mental anguish took its toll and Baxter was sent home. He married and for 10 years farmed and raised a family at Kuri Bush, just north of Taieri Mouth, before moving 15km to Brighton where he continued to support pacifist causes.

More than a century later, the University of Otago hosts an annual Archibald Baxter Memorial Peace Lecture.

Finding the spot where Baxter spent that decade after his ordeal is not easy. No buildings remain. The Weekend Mix spoke to a Kuri Bush farmer who, as a child, lived near ‘‘Archie’’, whom he met a few times.

‘‘He was a really nice bloke,’’ the farmer said and mentioned some landmarks identifying where the Baxter farmhouse once stood. Driving south on Taieri Mouth Rd, about 200m past OtokiaKuri Bush Rd East, it is the paddock on the right.