QE II War Museum: a guided tour

Waimarino Bulletin, Issue 5, 19 August 1988, Page 18

QE II War Museum: a guided tour

In the first part of this series about the Queen Elizabeth II War Memorial Museum at Waiouru, last week we took the visitor around some of the exhibits in the New Zealand section of the Colonial Gallery.

As we continue through the Museum in chronological order to trace New Zealand's martial history, we pause first this week at the imposing figure of Te Heu Heu Horonuku, paramount Chief-of-the-Ngati-Touwharetoa tribe from Tokaniru and Waihi on the southern shores of Lake Taupo. He Originally joined Te Kooti in 1869 during the Land Wars but later submitted to the New Zealand Government after a defeat at Porere (museum patrons can still visit the site of this battle at the Porere redoubt, just off SH47 south of the junction with the Ponanga Saddle Road from Tokaana between Lake Rotoaira and the Chateau turnoff). Te Heu Heu and his Ngati Tuoheratoa followers were largely instrumental in stopping the northern tribes from advancing further south but he is mainly remembered today for his generous gift of the three mountain peaks, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu to the New Zealand government

and the people of New Zealand. These peaks together with the surrounding countryside now form the Tongariro National Park, on the very doorstep of the War Memorial Museum and one of the first such national parks in the world. The Armed Constabulary The next exhibit is a full-size replica of a typical guard-house occupied by uniformed men of the Armed Constabulary. The Armed Constabularly was formed in 1867 and was raised to pacify troublesome Maoris and riotous gold diggers. It was created to fill the vacuum created by the departed British Imperial forces and was modelled on the Royal Irish Constabulary, a force hated in the Australian colonies by miners and swagmen alike. The New Zealand Armed Constabularly was organised into divisions of 70 or 8 0 with a total force numbering 1100 troops with a police like

structure . . . Major von Tempsky of the Forest Rangers who we profiled last week was appointed to the Armed Constabularly with the rank of Inspector in 1868. Their duties consisted of drill parades, the b.uilding of fences to corral government horses, the setting up of telegraph posts, escort duties for VIP's and the mail, road and bridge building but they were often involved . in action against the Hau Hau and in tracking down T e Kooti. The New Zealand Armed Constabularly was disbanded in 1886 and absorbed into the permanent militia and the civilian police. The Museum visitor now moves into what

is the overseas section or phase of our colonial history. The Spar Torpedo Boats The first perceived threat to New Zealand from overseas came with rumours about the likelihood of a Russian invasion in 1878 and 1881. The New Zealand Government's answer to the perceived threat was a decision to invest in a defence s y s t e m which, fortunately for the crews concerned, never had to be employed against the potential Russian aggressor . . . or indeed any other target! These were the "Spar Torpedo Boats" o f which four were ordered and supplied by one of Britain's leading ship-

builders - Thomeycrofts of Chiswick, London. As visitors to the Museum will see from the scale model and description of one of these vessels in a special showcase in the Colonial Gallery, each boat measured 63ft at the waterline, had a beam of 7ft 6ins, a draught of 3ft 4ins and weighed 12 tons. They were powered by twin engines which gave them a top speed of 17 knots and they cost £3150 each. Their main offensive feature was a 38ft pole or "spar" (hence the name) which projected over the bow and which, when approaching the enemy, could be lowered into the water ahead to a depth of 8ft. To the forward end of

this spar was a 201b charge of gun cotton explosive which could be detonated when it came in contact with the enemy battleship's hull. Now it doesn't take much imagination to work out that a boat travelling at 17 knots (22mph) towards a solid armoured hull with a charge of sufficient strength to blow a hole in the enemy vessel, would enter the very hole the explosion created. It is not surprising perhaps that trials were never conducted. And it is fortunate the Russian Grand Fleet never reached these shores. Nevertheless four of these boats were delivered to New Zealand and were deployed at Auck-

land, Wellington, Lyttleton and Port Chalmers to repel the potential invader and it wasn't until 1904 that the Spar Torpedo Boats were scrapped. In the m e a n t i m e , however, the self-pro-pelled torpedo had been invented and the Spar Boats were ordered to carry out trials with these new (and safer!) weapons . . . but problems persisted. Each boat was equipped with two of these self-propelled torpedoes, one slung on each side. But, because the beam of the Spar Boats was so narrow, each torpedo had a considerable ballast or balancing factor and it was found in the early trials that when one was fired from, say the starboard side, the Spar Boat promptly overturned to port. To overcome this new problem further trials were carried out using the crew to counteract the sudden weight-loss created by the torpedo being fired . . . they would rush to that side of the ship and then when the second torpedo was launched, half the crew would rush back to maintain the balance! Turn page 19

First troop trip overseas was for royal celebration

From page 18 Jubilee Diamond The first time New Zealand troops were sent overseas was not a theatre of war but to celebrate a very special occasion for the British Empire. Queen Victoria, at 78, celebrated a record 60 years as Queen of England, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India and ruler of the British Dominions beyond the sea, in 1897 and New Zealand was invited to send a military contingent to help mark the occasion.

The 54-strong New Zealand contingent that vook part in the public commemoration ceremonies in London in mid-June of that year was the first colo-nially-raised military contingent to leave these shores. A special slide presentation depicting those events can be viewed in this gallery. The slides have been prepared from actual hand-coloured black and white photographs taken at the time and used in magic-lantern lectures before the ad-

vent of colour photography and the modem projector. The Boer War The next time a New Zealand military contingent went overseas it was to wage war in South Africa only two years after attending Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London. The New Zealand response to a request for help was almost immediate . . . within 10 days of hostilities breaking out between the British and the Boers in South Africa

on October 11, 1899, a 214-man volunteer contingent had left for Capetown, the date being October 21, 1899. Over the next two and a . half years (the Boer War ended on May 31, 1902) a total of 6500 men and 8000 horses left these shores for South Africa. Of these 236 died. Fifty-one were killed in action, 11 died of wounds, 25 were accidently killed and disease claimed 133. This was not a conscript army paid for by the Crown. It was volunteer force and preference was given to those who could provide their own horse, rifle and other equipment. The exhibits in this section of the Colonial Gallery depict two lifesize tableaux of the participants on both sides of the conflict: two Boer gunners operating a Maxim gun and a New Zealand Mounted Rifleman on horseback. The next exhibit in this Boer War area of the Gallery is a somewhat incongruous one. It shows two ladies and a gentleman attired in the formal dress of the day taking tea in a g arden summer-house with a military-clad woman in Khaki uniform. This life-size tableau represents just one of

the many groups of women throughout New Zealand who helped raise funds to send and then support the 6000plus men who volunteered to serve in South Africa between October 1899 and May 1902. The group first credited with this fund-rais-ing fervour was known as the Wellington "Amazons" who were provided with uniforms and weapons and given a basic military training so that they could entertain and perform whenever the opportunity to raise funds arose, at public meetings, recruiting drives and even major social occasions. Their success in raising money in this way became so popular and rewarding that their example was followed in many other parts of the country by other women using different titles . . . the only "Amazons" were those from Wellington. It has been suggested that these groups of uniformed women were the forerunners of the marching girl tradition in New Zealand. Queen Victoria's Scarf Queen Victoria, in her later years, decided that she would like to do something personal for the men of her Colo-

nial forces who had displayed some outstanding act of chivalry, valour or bravery over and above the call of duty expected of a serving soldier or sailor. To this end she decide that she would collect eight woollen scarves which she would present personally to these men but she died before she could complete the eight scarves and before she could present any of them in person. However, of the four scarves that were com-

pleted, one was to have been awarded to New Zealand Trooper Henry Donald Coutts for rescuing his wounded Warrant Officer under fire at Pretoria in South Africa in 1900 and this was duly sent to the New Zealand Government in 1913. This is the very same scarf that is displayed in the Colonial Gallery of the Waiouru Army Museum and the visitor will see Queen Victoria's own initials stitched in linen thread in the bottom corner of the exhibit.