Planning for the major exhibition 'Featherston Military Training Camp' due to open in January is taking Aratoi director Alice Hutchison to far flung parts of the country as she connects with descendants of soldiers and officers who passed through its gates.
'With hundreds of collection items that have never been exhibited before we are extremely grateful to lenders from all over New Zealand, the most extensive of which have been generously loaned by the descendants of Camp Commandant Noel Adams.'
The Camp's statistics are staggering, reflecting the fact that it was bigger than Featherston itself at the time and the largest training camp in Australasia, tasked with turning raw recruits into real soldiers. But it's the human stories that will shape the exhibition, says Hutchison.
'We will be exploring what it was actually like to live there - what was difficult, what was enjoyable, and what became of some of the people who passed through it.'
"We will also follow these men as they departed the camp for their journey to the battlefields and present the harrowing journey to the Western Front, in particular the Somme and Passchendaele. Among the incredible survival stories is of one particular Wairarapa soldier. Consulting with esteemed historian Glyn Harper last week, I have been greatly inspired by his monumental book 'Dark Journey'."
The exhibition is planned to open on 23 January 2016 - 100 years since the camp became operational. Aratoi is still keen to hear from people with stories and objects relating to the WW1 Camp. T: 06 370 0001.
FACTS BOX:
- c.60,000 men were trained at the camp between 1916 and 1918.
- 750 hectares – the size of the wider camp in WW1
- 1000 workers labored for almost a year to create the camp
- 6500 men could be accommodated
- 500 horses were stabled on site
Rimutaka March book launch
'A Long, Long Trail’ by Wairarapa Archive's Neil Frances and Masterton's Fraser Books tells the story of the famous Rimutaka Hill marches, undertaken as a fitness test for over 30,000 soldiers bound for the Front. Due to be launched at Featherston's ANZAC Hall on 29 November, the richly illustrated book covers the historic marches along with this year’s September Re-enactment march, which included descendants of the original marchers.
Caption: Taking a break near the Summit of the Rimutakas is 23 Platoon, F Company of the 23rd Reinforcement, with three young admiring lads. Many such group photos of the marching soldiers were produced as postcards and mailed home. Wairarapa Archive, 11-151/65