Tai Tapu Golf Club

At this centenary of the Gallipoli landings by ANZAC troops during World War I it is fitting for the members of Tai Tapu Golf Club to pause and reflect on those Tai Tapu soldiers who fought in that War and in particular on those who, sadly, did not return. After all, the Tai Tapu Golf Club at its establishment was intended to be identified with the district from which most of its members and officials were to be drawn.

Members of the Club will almost all have family, relatives and friends who fought in World War I and of course on Anzac Day they will be thinking of those soldiers, telling their stories and attending Anzac Day Services around the country. An interesting example was recently published in The Star (15 April) of past Tai Tapu golf member Roger Gargett’s account of his father’s service in WW I. His father was Private (Batman) John William Gargett who was twice-wounded and also gassed (Gallipoli and France). Roger’s mother was wartime Nurse Ethel Warren. (Roger and his late wife Lois are remembered as serving Tai Tapu Golf very well in administrative matters).

Members of the Club do not have far to go to find names of Tai Tapu soldiers who fought, not only in “the War to End All Wars” but also those who volunteered and fought in the South African War (Boer War) and World War II. Plaques on the Memorial Gate at the entrance to the Rhodes Park Domain, form Rolls of Honour of Tai Tapu and district residents who served in those wars. But on a normal match day at Tai Tapu there is a procession of cars through the gateway with not a single one pausing so the golfer can study the plaques. Indeed, we wonder how many members of Tai Tapu Golf have ever paused at the Memorial Gate to have a look at the plaques and ponder on fates of the soldiers whose names are inscribed thereon. So, we provide here information on the plaques.

First, of course is the plaque acknowledging the presentation of the Park to the residents of the Tai Tapu District. (Its wording is slightly puzzling but will not be examined further here.)

 

Then for the soldiers’ plaques, we present first that for the South African War. That war used to be colloquially referred to as the Boer War. Maybe a degree of political correctness there?  It will be noted that “Cossar” and “Rhodes” are names familiar to Tai Tapu residents.

 

 

Then we have two plaques covering World War I. Names such as “Macartney”, “Rhodes”, “Peryman”, “Branthwaite” attract attention for Tai Tapu residents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, finally for the Memorial Gate, two more plaques for World War II soldiers from Tai Tapu and district. Unfortunately the mottled pattern in the stone of these latter is not amenable to quality photography but names such as “Weatherhead”, “McKenzie”, “Macartney” (yet again) “Hamilton”, “Morten”, “Suckling” can be discerned on closer examination (click to enlarge).

 

 

But, as members will be well aware there is another Tai Tapu War Memorial, in the form of an obelisk, in Tai Tapu village. It is an attractive example of its kind and presents the soldiers names in a clear and tasteful way.

 

 

There are only two plaque areas on the obelisk, viz., one for those who died in WW I and the other for those who died in WW II

 

 

 

 

 

 

The date of 25 April 2015 refers specifically to the centennial of the Gallipoli landing in World War I. New Zealand soldiers also fought in other regions although mostly on the so-called “Western Front” in France and Belgium. Thus it seems appropriate here to concentrate on WW I. In this we have tabulated the WW I soldiers’ names from both the Memorial Gate and the Obelisk. We note the obelisk lists only those soldiers who died (killed in action, died from wounds, died from deadly disease) while the Memorial Gate lists all soldiers.

Rather than just list the names again, we have attempted to discover more information about all the soldiers in the table, to give a better feeling for their identities. Such information can be obtained from publicly accessible sources such as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The NZ National Archives site “Archway”, Auckland War Museum, the commercial genealogy websites Ancestry.com, Find My Past.com and a number of others.  Some of the full names of soldiers on the monuments cannot be found, or cannot be verified, in the records available. The “last NZ address” category in some records is blank. Recent single immigrants from Great Britain had stated their next of kin as being their parents back in the Old Country. Also,  the Ancestry.com search function has been found unreliable in that quite a number of names are “found” totally out of their alphabetical places. As an example, a search for the Tai Tapu/Ladbrooks surname “Holmes” produced as well as Holmes, four other entirely different surnames.  Nonetheless it should be possible to have found fuller details of all the Tai Tapu and District soldiers, but unfortunately we haven’t succeeded in the time available.

 Our table of Tai Tapu soldiers whose names were taken from the Memorial Gate and the Obelisk follows. We honour their memory, and urge Tai Tapu Golf Club members to take time out before their next golf games to view the plaques.

Plaque Location	Surname	FirstName/Initials	Rank	Died in Action
Memorial Gate	Anderson	L
Memorial Gate	Anderson	S
Memorial Gate	Anderson	W
Memorial Gate	Baker	George William	Private
Memorial Gate	Baker	J
Obelisk & Gate	Barnett	Arthur James	Corporal	Jun 1917. France
Memorial Gate	Bassett	Tom (sic)	Sergeant
Memorial Gate	Borwick	James	Rifleman
Memorial Gate	Brake	H
Memorial Gate	Brake	L
Memorial Gate	Branthwaite	John William	Trooper
Memorial Gate	Burkitt/Birkett	George	Rifleman
Memorial Gate	Christian	J
Memorial Gate	Davis	N
Memorial Gate	Fougere	Harold Percy	Sergeant
Obelsk & Gate	Glennie	Charles	Private	Oct 1917. France
Memorial Gate	Harrington	James	Rifleman
Memorial Gate	Harvey	W
Memorial Gate	Haughey	Henry Joseph
Obelisk & Gate	Hawkins	J
Memorial Gate	Hendrie	William	Rifleman
Memorial Gate	Hill	J
Memorial Gate	Holmes	G
Obelisk & Gate	Holmes	H
Memorial Gate	Howell	H
Obelisk & Gate	Humphreys	James Samuel	Private	Oct 1918. Palestine
Memorial Gate	Humphries	Richard Edmund	Trooper
Memorial Gate	Johnston	L
Memorial Gate	Lewis	F
Memorial Gate	Lewis	G
Obelisk & Gate	Lowe	E
Memorial Gate	Lowe	G
Memorial Gate	Lowe	Ms M C	Nurse
Memorial Gate	Lumb	Percival A'Court	Trooper
Memorial Gate	Macartney	Robert Leonard	Corporal
Memorial Gate	Macartney	W
Obelisk & Gate	McDonald	C
Memorial Gate	McDonald	G
Memorial Gate	Millier	John Joseph	Private
Obelisk & Gate	Norquay	Donald Smith	Rifleman	Jun 1917. France
Obelisk & Gate	Page	Francis James		Sep 1917. France
Memorial Gate	Penlington	Roy Benjamin	Private (Driver)
Obelisk & Gate	Peryman	Leonard Wesley	Corporal	Apr 1918. France
Memorial Gate	Rathgen	Albert John
Memorial Gate	Rathgen	David Robert	Pvte
Memorial Gate	Rhodes	R H
Memorial Gate	Smith	S
Memorial Gate	Sylvester	H
Memorial Gate	Tizzard	Frederick Louis	Private
Obelisk & Gate	Tobeck	Leonard William	Rifleman	Mar 1918. France
Memorial Gate	Wallace	C
Obelisk & Gate	Wallace	Samuel	Private	Aug 1917. France
Memorial Gate	Wallace	T
Memorial Gate	Walls	E
Memorial Gate	Walls	W
Obelisk & Gate	Willan	George	Private	Dec 1917. France
Memorial Gate	Withers	G
Not listed on Memorials	Ayton	John	Private
Not listed on Memorials	Baynes	Ralph Clarence	Trooper

 Contributed by Brian Williamson