Lower Hutt's Anzac street names a chance to reflect on history
Thursday, 21 April 2022
A cluster of Anzac-themed street names in Lower Hutt has raised the issue of how history is told and who tells it.
Te Āti Awa kaumātua Teri Puketapu, deputy mayor Tui Lewis and historian Jock Phillips all say a cluster of Waiwhetū street names, mostly commemorating high-ranking British military figures from World War I, is unusual.
Puketapu does not want the Anzac names changed or removed but says most people would have no idea who the streets are named after. Some of the streets border Māori land confiscated by the Government and he says the history of the confiscation and the impact on Waiwhetū Māori should also be recognised.
Puketapu is a quietly spoken man who selects his words carefully but he says it just does not seem right to have so many military names with no connection to the nearby marae or Lower Hutt.
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“Why have all these military names in and around the land they took from us? It does rankle a bit with me.”
The streets bear the names of many officers with connections to Gallipoli, who had no link to Lower Hutt and in some cases never visited New Zealand.
In the 1940s, the government confiscated 98 acres of Te Āti Awa land and subsequently tried to give all the streets in the subdivision English names. Puketapu’s family had to fight to get a handful of Māori names near the marae.
He says he supports the Government’s decision to encourage the teaching of New Zealand history in schools. The street names, he says, are a reminder, that teachers must understand history and be willing to tell both sides of the story.
Lewis wants to know what the public think of the names. Debate on the names is a good opportunity to educate the public about the war, she says.
She is working on a project to tell the Māori side of the Battle of Boulcott’s Farm and the council could potentially do the same with Waiwhetū street names, she says.
Phillips has written a number of books relating to WWI and war memorials, and says no one should be surprised by the cluster of Anzac names in Lower Hutt.
”The answer (as to why they are there) is Pākehā society at that point of time, which was highly racist and had an ardent belief in the superiority of their own culture.”
There is nothing stopping the council changing the names to something more local or relevant, he says.
If there is a desire to retain street names with a link to WWI, he says they should be more reflective of the war experience.
“Why not have (conscientious objector) Archibald Baxteror (safe sex campaigner) Ettie Rout?”
Te Āti Awa leader and chairperson of Te Raukura Wharewaka o Pōneke, Liz Mellish says street names point to a much bigger issue.
Throughout the Wellington region there is a lack of recognition of the contribution Māori women made on the home front in both world wars.
Her grandmother Rīpeka Wharawhara Love, worked tirelessly for the benefit of soldiers, both European and Māori, in WWI. She raised funds for patriotic committees and sent food parcels to Māori soldiers in France and Rarotongans in Egypt. She also visited and supported soldiers in Trentham Military Camp and helped arrange accommodation for their wives.
Mellish is immensely proud of her grandmother and would like to see Rīpeka and her own relatives who in fought in the Māori Battalion more publicly recognised.
The only Māori military figure honoured with a street name in Lower Hutt is Lieutenant Colonel Eruera Te Whiti o Rongomai Love, the first Māori commander of the 28th Māori Battalion. There are two streets named after Love and Mellish says having Te Whiti Park named after him was greatly appreciated by local Māori.
Who are the people behind the street names?
Haig St: Field Marshal Douglas Haig was the most senior British officer in WWI and was commander during many of the major battles on the Western Front. He is one of the most controversial figures of the war. Historians have questioned his command and he has been nicknamed “Butcher Haig” in recognition of the millions of men who died under his command.
Birdwood Rd: Field Marshal William Birdwood was a British officer who served in the Boer War. Born in India, he commanded the Australians and New Zealanders at Gallipoli and is credited with inventing the term Anzac. After the war he was the Commander in Chief in India.
Malone Rd: Lieutenant-Colonel William George Malone was a highly regarded New Zealand officer. Born in England and living in Stratford, he was 56 when he fought at Gallipoli. He commanded the Wellington Infantry Battalion and was killed in action during the Battle of Chunuk Bair.
Russell St: Major-General Andrew Russell. Born in Napier, Russell was a long serving British Officer, who commanded the New Zealand Division on the Western Front.
Godley St: General Alexander Godley who was a British-born officer, who (on the recommendation of Field Marshal Lord Kitchener) reorganised the New Zealand military and set up a system of territorials, that served New Zealand well at the outbreak of war. He served in Gallipoli and on the Western Front. He was in charge when, on October 12, 1917, New Zealand suffered its worst ever military defeat, when the New Zealand Division suffered 2,735 casualties at Passchendaele. Like Haig (who was in overall command at Passchendaele) historians have questioned his competence.
* CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Teri Puketapu’s name. (Amended 11.55am, 26/4/2022)