The cross from the battlefield

Press, 29 April 1978, Page 16

The cross from the battlefield

In time of war men go overseas; some are killed, some return. Hearts are broken, women become widows, children become orphans. Prayers from the heart are offered. There are farewell services, spe-

cial days Of prayer, thanksgiving services for victory and safe returns, and after war Anzac Days and regimental reunions. Regimental Colours have been dedicated, and later “laid up.’’

All this is portrayed in our Cathedral. The minutes of the Cathedral bellringers record a muffled peal to mark some disaster in the South African War. The South Africans “laid up” their

flag'in 1972 and this was a culmination of a long series of church parades throughout the century. A memorial on the wall of the South Aisle has the names of 21 members of the 3rd New Zealand

Rough Riders who died in South Africa. World War I is marked by several memorials to individual soldiers, and on the walls of the Chapel of St Michael and St George are recorded the names of all those from Canterbury who fell in the two world wars — Navy men in dark blue lettering, Army in red, and the Air Force in light blue. From time to time we add an extra name that has been omitted. One old soldier assured me that he saw one man, whose name is recorded among the fallen of World War 1, walking about in Auckland in 1926. The flags and regimental colours sometimes raise the ire of pacifists, who accuse us of glorify, ing war. But the big blue ensign, covering the organ pipers, is very peaceful. It was taken by Hillary to Scott Base in the Antarctic. On the other hand the dirty old White Ensign next to it, presented by Admiral Jellicoe in 1920, was flown on H.M.S. New Zealand at the surrender of the German fleet at Scapa Flow, and perhaps at the Battle of Jutland.

This ship was given to the Royal Navy by the people of New Zealand, and did an official tour of this country in 1913. At one East Coast port a Maori chief presented the captain with a mere and a feather cloak. “Wear these when you go into action,” he said, “and the ship will never come to harm.” Before action the word would be passed round the lower deck that the captain was wearing the cloak. They did not suffer

a single casualty at Jutland. At the other end of the Cathedral, in the scout and guide corner, there is a White Ensign which was flown on Armistice Day at the Cenotaph in Whitehall in London. Alongside the New Zealand Regimental Colours in the Chapel of St Michael and St George hangs a Royal New Zealand Air Force Colour and two flags of the Old Contemptibles — the “Contemptible Little Army,” to which Kaiser Wilhelm referred in August, 1914.

There have been many great occasions for the armed services in the Cathedral — the first church parade in May, 1886: the first Anzac Day service in April, 1919: and memorial services for Jellicoe, Haig, Freyberg, and other great warriors.

One treasured relic is a wooden cross next to the altar in the Chapel of St Michael and St George. A few months ago a Mrs Northcote asked me whether I was interested in knowing more about this cross. Indeed I was. She said it was the origL nal cross put over her uncle’s grave in Belgium When it was replaced by the permanent stone one, the family chose to keep the wooden one, and eventually presented it to the Cathedral.

Her uncle, John Melvin Watkins, was a Christchurch boy, a prominent athlete at Christ’s College, and afterwards, when he left school and worked in the Bank of New Zealand. He enlisted seven days

after the beginning of World War 1, was in the landing at Gallipoli, and was wounded. He was commissioned in the artillery in France, won the Military Cross, got married in England, and was killed in action in 1917 at the age of 24. Mrs Northcote provided a photo-

graph of her uncle, and a photograph of the grave, with this same wooden cross in position. Careful examination will show that the artillery badge shown on the cross above the grave is now missing from the cross in the Cathedral. I hope we may be given one to replace it. ,