New exhibitions at QEII Army Museum

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 415, 3 December 1991, Page 10

New exhibitions at QEII Army Museum

BY

JO

HOWIE

The 'Loss of Innocence' exhibition and the Regular Force Cadet School Display is now open for public viewing, and will run until mid January. 'Loss of Innocence' display s work from World War 1 artists from New Zealand, Australia, and Britain. The collection of paintings come from the National Archives Collection in Wellington, and the Australian War Memo-

rial in Canberra. Dr Christopher Pugsley is; the curator of the 'Loss of Innocence' exhibition. The exhibition addresses two issues. One; That New Zealand had no war artists at the time so all art work from that era was either bought or donated to the New Zealand Government. And Two; The artists (and soldiers) expected to go overseas for real adventure, and to paint and sketch heroic scenes. Instead they

were faced with the reality of horror and despair, this war brought. Throughout the exhibition, extracts from soldier's diaries and from letters home indicate the reality and shock of war. For example, "if their mothers could see them, this war would end today," and "pity for the tired men, up the line and down again, tramping where their comrades fell, flotsam on the fringe of hell." New Zealanders were

innocent of the true terror of war. It was during World War 1 that New Zealand soldiers established a true sense of identity as New Zealanders, not as part of the British Empire. Types of art work in this exhibition include;

photographs, sketches, portrait and landscape paintings, extracts from diaries and letters, examples of British propaganda advertisements, and a walk-through-trench. All the paintings are Turnpage 11

Museum exhibitions

FrompagelO from World War 1 artists, except one: the Battle of Chunch Bair. This was painted by Ian Brown, the Army's artist today, and was presented to Lt General Sir John Mace in 1990. Also included in the exhibition is an original portrait of Sergeant Henry James Nicholas, VC and MM winner by Annie Elizabeth Kelly. Gerald Burn painted HMS New Zealand, a battleship New Zealand raised money for to donate to the Empire as a gift during the war. There is also a painting "The Landing at ANZAC" by Charles Dixon which was donated to the New Zealand Government by a New Zealand soldiers w i d o w . S h e commissioned this artist to paint this scene where her husband had died. The artist painted it on soldiers' descriptions. Two well-known-artists are George Butler and Horace M MooreJones. Moore-Jones was a New Zealander in his mid-40's studying at an art school in London at the time war broke out. He enlisted in the British Contingent of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He sailed to Egypt in 1914 and met up with the Contingent before Christmas. He was an engineer by trade but was employed as a display artist. Because of the nature of his work he completed many sketches and paintings of Gallipoli landscapes. His most famous piece being 'Simpson and his Donkey'.

Moore-Jones did two identical copies and sent them back on separate ships to ensure a safe arrival. One went to the Canterbury Officers Mess, the other to the Auckland Travellers Club. At the end of the War Moore-Jones offered to sell his paintings to the New Zealand Government. The Government rejected his offer, so he sold them to the Australian Government, who acquired them for the War Memorial in Canberra. Moore-Jones died in 1924 during a rescue attempt in a fire in Hamilton. The other new display recently opened for viewing is from the Regular Force Cadet School. The Cadet School recently announced plans to suspend the course from December as a result of Budget cuts in Defence expenditure. Since 1948, for over 40 years, while the school has been operating, hundreds of items of memorabillia have been donated to the School by past Class Patrons and others. These items have been entrusted to the Queen Elizabeth II Army Museum while the School is closed. Some items include Charles Upham's battledress jacket complete with his VC medal ribbon and bar, VC winner Lt Ngarimu's Sam Brown belt, and Brigadier Page's All Black rugby jersey. The display will be on show over graduation until the end of January, when the items will be

removed and stored safely for the occasion when re-establishing the School. Major Simons, acting Museum Director, said the display is a commemorative occasion to finish off the 44 years of its existence. The display demonstrates examples of uniforms, items donated by patrons includ-

ing General Parkinson's cannon, Allen Sword of 1950, and Rusty Taylor's (the first Sergeant Major of the Army) Pace Stick. Also on display is the original class banner and the Borough of Taupo Charter which the Regular Force Cadet School received in 1970. There is also a small photographic display and some trophies.