CASE OF KENNY BAYNE

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 55, 28 November 1921, Page 6

CASE OF KENNY BAYNE

WAS HE A HERO ? ✓ MR. ALDRICH’S LETTER AND THE MAYOR’S REPLY Tho attitude of tho Mayor of Pahiatua (Mr. J. D. Wilson) in moving a motion that ths Borough Council rescind its resolution agreeing to the erection of a memorial to the late Mr. Kenny Bayne haa aroused a great deal of interest in Pahiatua, indeed throughout tho district, especially since Mr. J. F. Aldrich’s protest at the last meeting of the Wellington War Relief Association. It may here bo recalled that the deceased soldier, after a fine career as a soldier, was returning to New Zealand, when happening from tho deck of a steamer to see a baby fall into the sea from a porthole, he jumped overboard in an attempt to effect a rescue, but both :he and the child were eaten by sharks before they could bo picked up. At the Borough Council. '■ In moving his rescinding motion, the Mayor said (vide the Pahiatua ".Herald”) that he thought the present council before whom the matter had really come for the first time, should be given opportunity of giving their decision. It was a right and proper thing provided that the people interested 'bad not been prejudiced with regard to the site In any other place, and he did not think they had. He, himself, all along had been of opinion that the square was not a suitable place, and had opposed the idea previously. He said that the position was that through insufficiency of notice, the council could nqt really rescind the resolution that day, but

the opinion of 'the council could bo / obtained as to whether it was advisable to allow the memorial to be placed ,jn the squares. He moved that the of a site for the iftemorial be deferred till a special meeting on Monday, Novemßsf'27. There may be, but, he did not think, there was any urgency for a decision- He did not wish _ to prejudice or interfere with tho work of the committee in any way. and His Worship intimated that should the council decide not to rescind the original resolution, he would not act as a dog in the manger, but would give a hand in the selection of the site. The motion lapsed for want of a seconder. • The Mayor, replying to questions by Councillors Dawson and Hankins, said there were a lot of phases of the matter. He thought that it was wrong to give such undue prominence to a comparatively small matter. It really meant starting our squares into a cemetery. “Never Regarded it as an Act of Bravery.”

The Mayor explained that the attitude he took up was that as far as the actual action was concerned lie pever regarded it as an act of bravery. Here was a returned soldier, maimed, and probably suffering from great nervous strain. He was on board an ocean liner going at full speed, through the tropics, the locality eaid to be full of sharks. He saw a child fall overboard and 'immediately jumped over to save it. His Worship said he did not know Kenny Bayne and did ®ot attempt for one moment to detract from the good intentions of anyone performing such an action. But in his (the speaker's) opinion, Bayne was mentally unbalanced, as the result of his war service, and in that light he did not regard it as an act of bravery. His Worship added that he considered tho previous council should not have given permission. It was a pity it did so. Mr. Aldrich’s Letter. The following is a copy of the letter sent to the Paihiatua "Herald” by Mr. < *l4. F. J. Aldrich, secretary of the Keturned Soldiers’ Association:— Sir, —I am enclosing herewith a copy of a letter I have written to the Mayor of your town. I am very anxious that ae much publicity be given to the matter as possible, and I trust you will find space for it.—l am, etc., K. J. F. ALDRICH, Secretary. v . Wellington Returned Soldiers’ Association. ’ [Copy.] Wellington, November 17, 1921. His Worship the Mayor, Pahiatua. Sir,—l have before me a cutting from the Pahiatua “Herald” having reference to your notice of motion re . the "Kenny Bayne Memorial.” I am not vitally concerned as to tho site of the memorial, but it is obvious that so far as you are concerned the war is getting «. long way behind. Without doubt, two years ago, when the deputation waited upon the council you would have consented to the erection of the memorial anywhere in the heart of your town, but as the years roll on, the danger is over and t'he war and deeds of the soldiers have sunk into oblivion. So much for tho motion. Now Jp deal with the motive that prompted it. During the whole of my forty odd years I have .never 'head a more gratuitous Insult flung at a dead man. Listen to mo sir! Kenny Bayne was one of God’s heroes. As a soldier; it would be hard to find his equal. As a gentleman he was made by Nature. As a. suffering patient his endurance was wonderful. I fought by his side at Gallipoli, I worked beside him in England when we were convalescing, and when the news of his death and the manner in which he met It got to England, everybody who knew him said: “And that is how he lived I wonder tho citizens of your district have not risen in their wrath at ycjir attempt to belittle one of the most noble actions ever attempted by anyone. For nearly twelve months Kenny and I worked together as orderly-room clerks, after we had been disabled, and I want to assure you and all the people who have read what I consider ycur insult that he was certainly not n entallv unbalanced at any time, he did not even suffer from any form of nervousness. He endured great pain for a long time after his wound, but when he left England the wound had healed, and although the arm was practically useless lie- did not suffer with it There are two people who do not regard Kenny’s action as an act of oravery, one is yourself and the other my pal Kenny “ayne. I could eulogise him for hours, blit it would not assist in my protest at iihe remarks made by you. nor will it affect the minds of those people wherein everyone but yourself recognises that not only did Kenny die a hero’s death, but lived the same. * I have forwarded a copy of this letter to the editor of the Pahiatua "Herald.”—Yours faithfully. , x (Sgd.) R. J. F. ALDRICH. The Mayor’s Reply. The Mayor's reply is as under:— gi rj —To prevent a misconception thjit may arise partly owing to the number of anonymous letters appearing in your columns, I chiefly writ? these lines with regard to my sentiment and sympathies with returned soldiers and those who have made the supreme sacrifice—includin'' Kenny Bayne I have already said that I would not detract anything from the good qualities of Kenny Bayne and I have-not done so, because I believe him to have been a brave so Idler and a man It cannot be said, and I hope it never will be said, that I have over expressed a sentiment wanting in.respect or sympathy with our soldiers both absent and present, and this will be belter understood when I stat? that three nephews and a cousin of my own made the supreme sacrifice in the Great Wai. ai.d several other relatives are amongst the returned. We aro erecting ft monument to the

memory of those —including Kenny Bayne—who were lost owing to the war, and to my mind this should be the one and only monument erected in our town squares.

Two years ago, in tho council, I opposed granting permission to erect a monument to Kenny Bayne in the town squares, because I do not wish to see monuments erected to individuals in our squares, and because such a precedent, if followed, will give the squares tho appearance of a cemetery. Now, I come to consider the deed, which it is claimed by some to merit lb? honour of a monument. It is not the act of a soldier on the battlefield I.am considering, but one pertaining to civil life. It lias been suggested that I may have been misinformed with regard to the circumstances. If (hat bo so, I shall b? glad to be corrected. I spoke of the circumstances from memory of the newspaper reports of two or three years ago, and, if correct, my opinion is that no man of sound mental condition would do what Kenny Bayne did. At the same time. I say that it was no fault of his or discredit to him that he may have been suffering from nervousness ot shell shock. I view the net n® if done by a civilian, and the fact that it was dene by a returning soldier cannot give if greater merit. T did not know Kcnnv Bayne, and it was far from bcifig n pleasure to stat;- what I did. but I believe, it tn be true. —I am, etc.. (Signed) .1. D. Wilson.