This
description has been extracted from the National
Inventory of War Memorials (UKNIWM):
The
memorial is called Southern Stand and is made up of sixteen cross-shaped
vertical bronze standards on stone bases. These are illuminated at night
by uplights in the bases. The standards are arranged in a semi-grid
formation and the standards, whilst upright, have a forward leaning
angle. There are two overlapping formations. Ten standards form an angled
grid (diamond shaped) with a lead standard. The remaining six are arranged
behind the main group and are designed to form the shape of the Southern
Cross constellation. Each standard weighs 700kg and bears individual
text, patterns and small sculptures.
Standard
one is the lead standard and carries the main dedication as well as
a carved fern insignia badge with the initials NZ. The dedication is
in both English and Maori.
Standard
Two has the New Zealand flag upon it.
Standard
Three represents Maori contribution to war. Upon the standard are manaia
carvings in different tribal styles, a Maori pioneer flag, an extract
from the Third article of the Treaty of Waitangi in English and Maori,
a call to arms in English and Maori from the Maori newspaper Te Kopara
1914. There is then an extract from Captain Wainohu's address before
the night attack on 6th August 1915. Finally there is a reference to
Maori Battalion troops leaving from Palmerston North.
Standard
Four has a war theme and has an extract from 'We are the hull of a great
canoe - Matire Kereama' by Colin McCahon 1969, a quote from Freyberg
when showing Churchill around the troops in Taranto, Italy, 1944, part
of Laurence Binyon's Ode For the Fallen and a quoteabout poppies. There
is a modelled fantail on ledge.
Standard
Five has a trade theme and carries information on the Endeavour, the
first Cabbage tree seed exported from New Zealand and the first shipment
of frozen meat bound for UK.
Standard
Six has a Navy and Air theme. The standard is decorated with modelled
reliefs of planes and ships. It also bears the formal insignia of the
Army, Navy, Airforce and Merchant Navy.
Standard
Seven has a farming theme. The quote is from Katherine Mansfield and
there is also an image of a farmer against a fence.
Standard
Eight has a sport/tapa theme. The standard bears a rendered tapa cloth,
two quotes on rugby and an All Black silver fern, modelled rugby ball
and rowing oar.
Standard
Nine has a sea theme and has quotes from John Mulgan, Allen Curnow and
the Tiki Times. The standard is decorated with a modelled headland and
pipi and toheroa shells placed in a spiral and lined up to spell Antipodes.
Standard
Ten has a Bush theme and bears two modelled kereru, a Pember Reeves
quote and a Robin Hyde quote.
The
final eleven to sixteen standards make up the Southern Cross. Each is
lit at the top. These standards feature welded patterns of koru, kowhaiwhai,
lines and fish. These standards are of a more rugged quality than the
other ten.
Inscription
STANDARD
ONE: This memorial commemorates the enduring bonds between New Zealand
and the United Kingdom, and our shared sacrifice during times of war.
It is a symbol both of our common heritage, and of New Zealand's distinct
national identity.
He whakamaharatanga
tenei e whakanui ana i nga hononga kei waenganui i a Aotearoa me Piritana
Nui, tapiri atu ki to raua tu tahi i nga wa o te pakanga. He tohu hoki
tenei ki nga taonga tuku iho orite ki enei whenua, tae rawa ki te tuakiri
ake o Aotearoa.
STANDARD THREE: TREATY
OF WAITANGI 1840/ Article the Third/ In considertion thereof Her Majesty
the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal
protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British
Subjects.
Ko te Tuatoru/ Hei
wakaritenga mai hoki tenei mo te wakaaetanga ki te Kawanatanga o te
Kuini-Ka tiakina e te Kuini o Ingarani nga tangata maori katoa o Nu
Tirani ka tukua ki a ratou nga tikanga katoa rite tahi ki ana mea ki
nga tangata o Ingarani.
Farewell young men.
Go and uphold the name of our warrior ancestors. "Fear God and
honour the King".
Whatever you do remember
you have the mana, the honour and the good name of the Maori people
in your keeping this night...do your duty to the last, and whatever
comes never turn your backs on the enemy.
Just before midday
on 1 May 1940, the men of the battalion prepared to leave Palmerston
North. Dressed in their greatcoats and lemon squeezer hats, with officers
carrying side-arms and the remainder of the battalion carrying rifles,
they looked impressive as they marched for the last time before the
citizens of Palmerston North.
STANDARD FOUR: We are
the hull of a great canoe - we will never be lost; we are the hull of
a great canoe.
After a bowl of Toheroa
soup, Mr Churchill was clearly much revived and one of his first questions,
addressed to me, was 'Why did the soldiers give me a better welcome
the second time they saw me?' I said 'Because they do not cheer very
well to orders, sir, and the second time they cheered of their own accord'.
They went with songs
to the battle, they were young,/ Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady
and aglow,/ They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,/ They
fell with their faces to the foe./ They shall grow not old, as we that
are left grow old:/ Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn/
At the going down of the sun and in the morning/ We will remember them.
Poppies with stems
so slender they were hardly visible, swayed in a gentle breeze like
crimson butterflies. Big guns away in the distance near Gaza kept up
a constant rumble.
STANDARD FIVE: The
Endeavour, commanded by Captain James Cook, departed England on 25 August
1768. The expedition had traveled south to observe the transit of Venus
and to sail south to latitude 40 in search of the southern continent
and then sail west to New Zealand. The first sighting of New Zealand
was made by Nicholas Young on 6 October 1759. Cook's first landfall
was at Poverty Bay, near present day Gisborne.
Actually the first
cabbage tree seed exported from New Zealand was collected at Queen Charlotte
Sound during Cook's third voyage, and the first live plants were probably
from the north, where the missionaries were established. These trees
were genetically adapted to warm conditions, and in Britain they all
died. It was not until cabbage trees from the colder southern parts
of the country were requested that they were able to flourish in Britain.
The first shipment
of frozen meat to the United Kingdom, departed Port Chalmers on 15 February
1882 on SS Dunedin. The cargo of 5000 sheep and a small amount of butter
arrived on 24 May 1882.
STANDARD SEVEN: The
Manuka and the sheep country - very steep & bare, yet relieved here
and there by the rivers & willows, and little bush ravines...in
the evening walked in the bush - to a beautiful daisy pied creek - ferns,
tuis, & we saw the sheep sheds.
STANDARD EIGHT: The
man who introduced rugby into New Zealand - After attending Christ's
College Finchely, North London for 2 years (1867 - 69) to complete his
secondary education at an English Public School, C.J. Munro returned
home to Nelson and persuaded his mates to take up rugby. From Nelson
the game spread rapidly to other areas in the country, and within twenty
years there were few districts without its rugby club.
The 1905 rugby team
departed New Zealand as the COLONIALS and, after a successful British
tour, returned known as the ALL BLACKS. During this 1905-06 tour the
New Zealanders established themselves in the eyes of the rugby world
and also added the words 'All Blacks' to the rugby vocabulary.
STANDARD NINE: When
we went sailing, we used to head into the Hauraki Gulf from Auckland.
This is a wide gulf, locked in by islands so that it has a sense of
harbour and refuge and security
...not I, some child,
born in a marvelous year, will learn the trick of standing upright here.
Where Pohutukawa flames
against Hauraki skies.
STANDARD TEN: Eaters
of honey, honey-sweet in song / The tui and the bellbird - he who rings
/ That brief, rich music...the woodpigeon's sudden whirr of wings...the
silver fern-fronds climbing...
You were English and
not English. It took time to realize that England was far away. And
you were brought up on bluebells and primroses and daffodils and robins
in the snow - even the Christmas cards were always of robins in the
snow. One day, with a little shock of anger, you realized that there
were no robins and no snow, and you felt cheated; nothing else was quite
as pretty. The tall sorrel heads of the dock plants were raggedy under
your hands, and the bush of daisies with brown centres stuck out from
under the bedroom window, its roots somehow twisted into the asphalt...
References
According
to Fran Dibble, wife and assistant of the sculptor, the standards are
positioned in a semi-grid formation in order to resemble soldiers in
procession, Pouwhenua markers around Maori ancestral sites or Celtic
remains. The forward leaning angle is intended to be reminiscent of
warriors during haka, the defensive bat in cricket and the barrel of
a shouldered gun.
The
memorial signifies New Zealand's national identity, relationship with
Britain and the shared wars.
