For V.C. Winners’ Club

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30278, 2 November 1963, Page 10

For V.C. Winners’ Club

A display of New Zealand woods is to be sent to London to represent this country in the Victoria Cross Winners’ Club rooms. Mr J. D. Hinton, V.C., the licensee of the Plough Hotel, Rangiora, decided about a year ago to have the display made up, as New Zealand was the only Commonwealth country not represented in the rooms.

The base of the display is of kauri and on top of this is a piece of totara. On the totara is a piece of greenstone with a silver kiwi on top of it. The greenstone is a piece left over

after a gift bad been made for the Queen. The stiver for the kiwi came from West Coast gold mines. As a backdrop to the greenstone and kiwi is a laminated section of six other New Zealand woods. These are white pine, birch, silver pine, rimu, akiaki and honeysuckle. The display was made on the West Coast for Mr Hinton and all the woods except the kauri were grown on the coast.

The woods were collected and given by Sister B. Baldock (now Mrs J. Sha-w, of High street. Greymouth),

whom Mr Hinton first met overseas during the war. Nb other New Zealand V.C. winners bad seen or knew about the display. “id Mr Hinton. :i Mr Hinton won his V.C. in Southern Greece in 1941. He has been the licensee of the Plough Hotel for the last four years and • half and is hoping to give it up in the New Year and live in Christchurch. He said he had hoped to take the display to London himself, arriving in time to attend the V.C. winners’ reunion dinner, but now he would not be able to do so.