Prisoner awarded $1500 in decision The real story of the giant chalk kiwi
It’s enormous, and it was carved into an English hillside by New Zealand soldiers. But the full tale of the famous white bird has only just now come to light, writes
Agiant kiwi carved into a hillside in southern England has been recognised for its historic significance, but the official version of the monument’s history is far from the full story.
It is agreed that the kiwi was made in 1919 by New Zealand soldiers who were waiting at Sling Camp, Bulford, on Wiltshire’s Salisbury Plain, to go home after World War I.
Historic England’s version of events has the monument – known as the Bulford Kiwi – being created in February and March. But Colleen Brown, who has nearly finished a book on the kiwi, says that is several months too early.
The kiwi has just been listed as a monument in Britain, and the accompanying details note there was a riot in the camp around the same time the shape of the kiwi was dug out of the hillside.
What that official history doesn’t do is directly attribute the creation of the kiwi to the riot, but that’s what Brown thinks happened.
According to the NZ History website, the rioting happened in mid-March. It was caused by the waiting men’s anger at repeated delays in scheduled sailings of troop ships because of a British shipwrights’ strike. Some men also believed there was a bias against South Islanders in decisions about sending men home.
Brown said another factor was the impact of influenza, with men dying in the camp, and news from home that family members were being affected by the pandemic.
They were a citizen army stuck in bleak, cold circumstances, and the camp was overcrowded. Designed for 4000 men, by March 1919 it held 6000.
Also, Canadian troops had rioted a few days before, and some newspapers had reported incorrectly their boats had sailed as soon as the riots were over. ‘‘These guys really did think if they kicked up a bit of a shindig boats would become ready,’’ Brown said.
Her interest in the kiwi was sparked by the experience of her adopted great uncle Bertie Jarrett, who volunteered for the war. He made it through the hostilities but died of influenza in the camp while waiting to return to New Zealand.
‘‘It absolutely devastated my great grandfather,’’ Brown said.
She is in the final stages of preparing her book, The Kiwi We Left Behind, for publication, and is concerned about the information from Historic England about the creation of the kiwi.
‘‘I am a bit concerned about the inaccuracies, but in some ways I can understand them as well, mainly because the information is here in New Zealand,’’ Brown said.
In the past, there was lots of speculation about the details of the kiwi’s history. In recent years, more information had become available as more families made records such as letters, diaries and photographs available to places such as the National Library. The internet was also making it easier to track down information.
Brown said no precise details were available about the creation of the kiwi, but piecing together information from different sources showed work would have started in April or early May, with the job finished on June 28. That was the day Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending its involvement in the war.
As a result of the March 1919 rioting, the men in Sling Camp gained many concessions, including a reduction in education programmes, Brown said.
‘‘So they had to find something else for them to do.’’ That’s when it was decided to create the kiwi, an idea which was suggested earlier in 1919 but at that time people to do the work weren’t available.
Brown did not think a start early in the year would have been possible. ‘‘Men in their diaries kept on saying, ‘it’s cold, sleety, icy’,’’ she said.
The image of the bird could not just be drawn on the ground. At the site itself, it had an elongated look to it.
‘‘It’s an image that pops back into shape when you’re standing 800 metres away from it. It’s supposed to be seen from a particular viewpoint,’’ Brown said. ‘‘You would have had to survey that to get the accuracy.’’
The surveying was done by Sergeant Major Victor Low, from the Lo Keong family, considered to be the first Chinese family in New Zealand.
Brown said information that Low had done the survey work from about 800m away was included in a letter from a man saying he saw the surveyor doing the work from a particular point.
It would have been painstaking, and the surveyor’s instructions had to be communicated to workers on the hill. ‘‘It had to be very particular, so it would have taken some time to do that and get that right,’’ Brown said.
Historic England’s measurements put the height of the kiwi at 127m, with a 45m bill.
Low is one of three men Brown credits with being key to the creation of the kiwi. The others are Sergeant Major Percy Blenkarne and Captain Harry Clark.
Blenkarne drew the kiwi. Clark, who kept a diary, got the men up the hill every day to dig the kiwi out of the fields. He wanted 400 men each day, and got 250 if he was lucky, Brown said.
A memo from Clark in early June showed he was worried the job wouldn’t be finished. ‘‘By that stage boats were leaving and they were all moving again.’’ So senior officers stepped in and ordered various groups to get themselves organised.
Clark’s diary showed the job was finished on June 28.
Documentation at Archives NZ showed the work was done by the Wellington, Otago and Canterbury battalions, Brown said.
‘‘It’s a monument built by soldiers for soldiers, probably to remember those who weren’t going home.’’
After the New Zealanders left, the kiwi was maintained from 1919 to 1950 by the Kiwi Polish company, which employed a man to regularly weed and spray.
The emblem was covered over in World War II, then uncovered by local Boy Scouts in 1948.
The New Zealand government looked after it from 1950 until the early 1970s. It then became infested with weeds and was almost lost, Brown said.
In 1980, the government declined a request to contribute to the kiwi’s upkeep.
Major Danny Fisher, the officer commanding the British Army’s 249 Signal Squadron, had just brought his men back from the Arctic Circle that year. He saw a historic emblem desperately in need of rescuing.
‘‘So for a few beers and a few extra days off, he and his men cleaned up the kiwi,’’ Brown said.
A report from the time shows men carried about 20 tonnes of chalk up the hill in sandbags. They also quarried some of the chalk themselves.
‘‘If it hadn’t been for Fisher and those men, that kiwi would have disappeared,’’ Brown said.
She has approached Historic England, offering to help sort out some of the information about the kiwi. She also has ideas on how the monument can be enhanced and is hopeful those with an interest will be able to get together to discuss ideas for the site.
‘‘It’s an image that pops back into shape when you’re standing 800 metres away from it. It’s supposed to be seen from a particular viewpoint.’’ Author Colleen Brown