Tracing granddad’s Israeli war mission
The thin, yellowed pages of the family’s bible have been well thumbed while the small, dark blue cover is dulled with the patina of passing decades.
Blenheim man Don Moore holds the book carefully in his right hand, as his grandfather Edward Moore before him once did; a tangible connection to the past.
Inside, faint pencil marks in small, perfectly formed script give notations of a time long passed. But for Don Moore and his cousin, Tim Moore, it is an era very much at the forefront of their minds.
The pair are set to follow in the footsteps of their soldier grandfather, taking with them the very bible he carried with him into battle, a journey that will take them to Israel to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba.
Tim Moore said he was interested in the history and looking forward to seeing the places his grandfather saw.
In October 1917, Ted Moore, a survivor of the Boer War, was a corporal with the Wellington Mounted Rifles (NZMR)1st, Machine Gun Sq. He farmed at Kekerengu between Kaikoura and Blenheim and was 36 when he left his wife and young baby at home.
He stood silent in the twilight with his comrades, waiting for orders to mount and advance, on their final approach to arrive at the battle site the morning of October 31.
There was a severe shortage of water and capturing the wells of Beersheba were key to winning the battle.
Ted’s job was to provide covering fire with their machine guns, as the NZMR tried to take out the Turkish guns on the Tel el Sabacc hill overlooking Beersheba. They were successful and the final phase of this all day battle was the now-famous mounted charge of the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade.
While for the most part the cousins will travel in more comfort than their grandfather before them, the pair have opted to end their visit with an organised trip that will take them on horseback through the desert, a pilgrimage which echoes the conditions their grandfather would have endured.
Fully kitted out in dress uniform, partly donated by Sir Greg Theatrics company in Mapua near Nelson, Don and Tim Moore will have just replica army blankets and minimal supplies.
It is the horse-riding part which the pair are most nervous about. Both are hoping to get saddle fit again and ready to ride after many years out of the saddle. Tim has also taken to wearing his replica Mounted Rifles hat to ensure it is ‘worn in’ for the overseas adventure.
The small blue bible will travel with them on the trip.
‘‘You can see where Ted wrote in pencil in the bible and he refers to the battle,’’ Don Moore said.
‘‘I try not to open the pages too often as I worry that one day the words will get too faint to read.
‘‘I think, that as you get older, family history becomes more important and once we’re gone, I want the knowledge to continue on through the generations.’’