The Beautiful Game and The Ugly War

The news this week that the British Government plan to hold a football match between England and Germany on Boxing Day 2014 at Messines in Belgium has inspired me to write this post.

The First World War was an ugly tragic mess that claimed millions of lives. Many survivors would not or could not speak of the grim conditions they endured during the war years. However, on rare occasions, a glimmer of hope and humanity prevailed. An early example of this was the Christmas  truce of 1914. On the cold bleak battlefront the human spirit and goodwill to all men was ignited when British soldiers saw candlelit Christmas trees perched up on the German trench parapets. A biting chill in the air on Christmas eve suddenly carried the warming sound of carols and with it, the curiosity and temptation for both sides to somehow rejoice and sing along. One thing led to another, and chocolate, christmas pudding and other goods sent from home were exchanged by throwing them between British and German trenches.And then the remarkable truce followed. The first British and German soldiers to climb out of their trenches to face one another unarmed must surely have been anxious but bold. The final act of coming together in the middle of no-mans land was without doubt a momentous occasion with the purpose of sharing and celebrating  Christmas.
But as if this was not enough inspiration and goodwill, at various locations along the front line German and Allied battalions came together to play the beautiful game! If the traditional leather football was not available then footballs were soon fashioned out of fabric stuffed with straw, tied up sandbags, and even a ration tin. Regimental hats were crudely used to mark the goal posts, but no matter, the spirit, comraderie and shared passion for football were all that mattered for those brief moments at Christmas in 1914.
When the games ended, and the Christmas celebrations came to a close, soldiers from both sides returned to their trenches, picked up their weapons and resumed the war. Many of those men later fell on the same shell scarred landscape that they had briefly come together to share Christmas and football on.

German prisoner-of-war football team near Messines, Belgium in June 1917.

So, it is with great admiration I have for the British government in their decision to arrange a football match intended to honour the fallen from both sides and to mark the centenary of the 1914 Christmas truce. And what better player ambassador to lead England, than David Beckham. A player built on passion for the game, who exercises true sportsmanship, and a person who can be guaranteed to provide a genuine warm handshake before and after the game. I wouldn't mind seeing our own Ryan Nelsen in the team too, if there were a chance for his inclusion.

It is worth mentioning that whilst rugby is in our New Zealand blood, and matches were played not far from the war zone, football too, was revered during that same period. This hardened bunch of New Zealand soldiers seen below, were a  team from 1916. I wonder whether they ever had the opportunity like those men from the 1914 truce, to be able to lay down weapons at Christmas and have a good old dribble and kick against a German side. What's certain is that any Kiwi side with solid focus and determination is hard to beat. The All Whites punched above their weight against the much higher ranked Italy in the 2010 World Cup. So who knows, maybe there was a Beckham equivalent in this New Zealand army team!

I only hope we have a New Zealand presence at the centenary football match next year so that we might share in the remembrance of all those who were robbed of longer, happier, healthier lives and who instead could only scrape together some small opportunity to play sport together for one brief moment at Christmastime one hundred years ago.

Anzac football team at Rouen, France in 1916.

"With Sturdy Stride They March Away" - the March over the Rimutaka Ranges

"With sturdy stride they march away

To the roll of the kettle-drums brave,

To cheery trumpets blare and play

And the starry banners wave.

They need no spurs to urge them on;

Their hearts are beating fast,

And tear-bright eyes have smiled and shone

As rank on rank swept past.

From columns deep of marching feet

The dust-clouds scatter and blow,

And boom-boom-boom! the big drums beat

To let the nations know..."

From  a song written by Will Lawson (1876-1957).

The Fifteenth Reinforcement marching from Featherston Military Camp over the Rimutaka Ranges and down to Trentham Camp in the Hutt Valley.

Real photographic postcard taken by John Roger Stewart, 6 July 1916.

Over 60,000 New Zealand men trained to become soldiers at Featherston Military Camp during the First World War. At the end of their training at Featherston, many of these soldiers marched from camp over the Rimutakas along its gravelled road. They stopped for a refreshments break at the Rimutaka Road Summit and bivouacked overnight near Kaitoke (and some reinforcements a second time at Mangaroa Valley) before arrival at Trentham Camp.

It was a journey of approximately 34 kilometres and was often photographed for postcard souvenirs. Prominent photographers whose work included images of either Featherston and Trentham camps, or the Rimutaka marches include; Private John Bernard Arnold, Bickerton, Henry Brett, James Henry Daroux, Allan Mackenzie, Luther Mence, Private Percy Caz Sorrell, Rifleman James Roger Stewart, and Private Tom Varley.

Real photographic postcard showing some of the men from B Company Sixteenth Reinforcement on a refreshments break whilst on their way over the Rimutakas to Trentham Camp c.May 1916.

This postcard was written on the back by Private James Marshall Lawrence of B Company 16th Reinforcement;

"Dear Irene, I was going to send you a button off my uniform, but as we are going to Christchurch to parade there, I will have to keep them on, so I am sending you this P.C. instead, as a little keepsake from this little soldier. Kind regards to Father and Mother. Thank him very much for those addresses he was going to send me. Not goodbye, just so long.

From Corpl J.M. Lawrence, 16ths (Record Breakers)"

James received a gunshot wound to his right hand in June 1917 but returned to New Zealand after the war ended, safe and well.

"The march of the Sixteenth Reinforcements from Featherston to Trentham took place on Sunday. Of nine companies in the draft, five marched as far as Kaitoke, and the others, A, B, C and J companies, marched all the way to Trentham. This was the first time this has been done. The little bootmaker mascot of the Fifteenths joined the column at Trentham, and marched all the way to Trentham. The Sixteenths are regarded as the strongest draft that has yet crossed the Rimutakas."
Source: Colonist, 9 August 1916

Two separate postcards help form this wonderful panoramic view of the 23rd Reinforcement marching from the Rimutaka Ranges and down in to Kaitoke. They are seen here crossing the Pakuratahi River on 15 February 1917. The photographs were taken by Nelson-born John Bernard Arnold, who later in the year  was recruited in to D Company at Trentham Military Camp.

Almost at destination end! These New Zealand soldiers have crossed the railway line evident by the crossing sign seen in the background. The sound of marching boots and the cloud of rising dust have drawn the attention from a family looking on from their verandah. These soldiers are likely making their way along Sunderland Avenue, just a short distance away from Trentham Camp.

Barrage Gardens, Cairo

c.1916. Convalescent New Zealand soldiers and medical staff stood beside New Zealand Expeditionary Force ambulances at the Barrage Gardens, approximately 20 miles from Cairo in Egypt. This group portrait photographic postcard was taken on a day's outing at the gardens whilst enjoying a picnic.

The War Dog of New Zealand

"1914. The War-Dog of New Zealand" by artist J.D. Perrett.

This powerful patriotic painting is all-absorbing with its symbolic strong stance of a British bulldog combined with Maori warrior adornments; the black tail feathers with white tips from the extinct Huia bird, tā moko facial marking and the ornamental pendant, hei-tiki made of pounamu (greenstone) all of which personify the wearer with status and high rank. Truly a force to be feared by any enemy!

War was declared in August 1914, and at that time, Auckland-based artist John Douglas Perrett was likely inspired to paint this wonderful piece as New Zealanders rallied to join the British Empire and fight for King and Country. The New Zealand Herald printing works made a copy and the painting thus reproduced in to postcard format seen above.

John Perrett, a Glaswegian born in about 1859, was a student at the Glasgow School of Art. When he was about 27 years old he emigrated to New Zealand and this young Scot unsurprisingly settled in Dunedin. It was not long before he had established himself as an artist of some repute in this city. His specialty was scenic landscapes and he exhibited such works as "A Sunny Glade", "A Mountain Stream", "Harrison's Cove, Milford Sound" and "The Cleddan River" in the early 1890's. 

John and his young family moved to Devonport Auckland sometime in 1895 and he took up a studio in Victoria Arcade in the heart of Auckland city. He and his wife Helen had four sons William Hay, John Douglas, Harold Seaton, Hugh Gordon, and one daughter Barbara Stewart. Three sons saw active service in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War. John (Jack) served in the Auckland Infantry and sailed with the Main Body to Egypt in October 1914. He survived the war and died in Auckland in 1961, age 69 years. Harold was a Gunner in the New Zealand Field Artillery and his brother Hugh was in the 36th Reinforcements. Both returned home after the war.

John Douglas Perrett's son Jack, Auckland Weekly News, 13 January 1916

Perhaps an undervalued and little known artist to many New Zealanders today, Perrett was a prolific and respected artist here in New Zealand from the 1890's through to the 1930's. He is recognised for being one of the original members of the Auckland Academy of Art, gained a silver medalion for a fine marine study, and was renowned for an excellent drawing of the Pink and White Terraces, a piece of work he had just completed when the Tarawera eruption occurred in 1886. Some of his other works include; "Haunt of the Sea Birds", "Hutt River", "Island Bay - Wellington", "Evening - Milford Sound", "Wanganui River", "Branch of the Wanganui River", "The Reef Suva - Fiji", "Morning - Lake Pukaki", "Mount Cook from Lake Pukaki", "Evening, Mount Cook", "Auckland Harbour", "A Peaceful Vale", "The End of the Day", "Clearing After Rain, Milford Sound", "Cathedral Peaks, Lake Manapouri", "Lake Manapouri", "Dunedin Harbour",  "Government House and grounds", "Mount Ruapehu", "Summer Weather, Auckland Harbour", "Pelorus Sound", "Moonlight, Akaroa Harbour", "Lake Kanieri", "Nature's Mirror", "A Rockbound Coast", "Lake Waikaremoana", "Waikareiti" and many others.

John Douglas Perrett continued to paint and exhibit his work through until his death on 18 January 1937, age 78 years. His wife Helen Marion Perret died just two and a half months later, age 77 years.

Don't Worry! I'm Quite Comfortable at Sling Camp

"Don't Worry! I'm Quite Comfortable at Sling Camp". Postcard by artist Reg Carter and published by E. Mack, King Henry's Rd., Hampstead, London.

Comfortable at Sling Camp..."I Don't Think"! This military camp situated in the cold bleak landscape of the Salisbury Plains in Wiltshire often received unfavourable comments from many New Zealand soldiers who trained there. Not only was there a dislike of the camp's isolated location exposed to wind and weather, but also they dreaded the hard and unforgiving camp discipline, parades, lectures, and long route marches. Despite this, the training at Sling Camp in bomb fusing and throwing, gas mask drills, Lewis machine gun instruction and trench digging helped to strengthen the New Zealand fighting force before final departure to the battle fronts in France and Belgium.

Private James Walker of 3rd Battalion Canterbury Infantry Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Force left New Zealand with the 14th Reinforcements on the troopship Athenic on 30 December 1916. When the ship arrived at Plymouth in England, the New Zealand troops were transported on to Sling Camp for training and drill. This postcard was written by Private James Walker to his father in New Zealand when James was stationed at Sling Camp.  

"England.

March 10th 1917

Dear Father, 

                   I met Jim Hollow last night  in our canteen. He is going back to the trenches in about 2 weeks. His brother Bill is in the trenches now. Jim is in the next camp to ours. His hut is only about 300 yards from ours. I will write first chance there is. Nothing but snow, mud and rain here. It is decent drilling in the mud.

Jim"

James lost his older brother William just four months before writing this postcard. William was killed in action at the Somme. 

When the 14th Reinforcements training at Sling finally came to an end they received their posting orders for the battlefields of Belgium and France. The New Zealanders were in the thick of the fighting at the Wytschaete-Messines Ridge in Belgium in June 1917. Despite the casualty list, the heat and the thirst, the New Zealanders were victorious in driving out the Germans from the town of Messines. Four months later, the casualty lists grew to horrific numbers and the heat was replaced by rain and mud. This was Passchendaele and for Private James Walker, this is where the war came to an end. He was killed in action on 4 October 1917 at just 23 years of age. James' cousin Jim Walker Hollow whom he mentions on the postcard above, died on 12 October just 8 days after James was killed. This date is well documented and remembered as New Zealand's blackest day owing to the large number of New Zealand casualties.

Bill Hollow, also mentioned, survived the war. 

Real photographic postcard of Sling Camp published by 'T.I.C.' (Thomas Illingworth & Co.).