Waiouru will not be a mausoleum

Press, 26 August 1978, Page 14

Waiouru will not be a mausoleum

Those who expect the Waiouru Military Museum to be a vast mausoleum crammed with cold grey steel and musty uniforms are quite wrong. It will be bright with the colour of paintings by New Zealand artists, and alive with sounds emanating from the audio visual theatre. Large murals will decorate the inside walls and giant tanks will dominate the forecourt. As much as the Christchurch architect, Miles Warren, has captured the essence of the museum’s concept with his moat-en-circled castle, so has the interior designer, Garry Couchman, provided a setting conducive to pure enjoyment.

Forming part of the collection is an extensive range of material from the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry. The cavalry was formed in 1864 after three years of discussion and negotiation with the government of that time. Over the next 86 years, the unit served in South Africa, Gallipoli, Egypt, and Jerusalem. The Mounted cavalrymen swapped their horses for the Bren Carrier, armoured car, and Sherman tank when mechanisation came into force. The days of the gallant charges of man and horse were over. The regiment ceased to exist in 1940. The director of the museum is Major Bob Withers, who for the last few months has been co-ordi-nating the collecting and sifting of vast quantities of war relics that have been flooding in since the Army announced its intention of building a living record of its military past. The philosophy behind the project has been to create and develop a centre which will preserve and display relics and records of New Zealand’s military history, showing how that history has .contributed to the development of our nation and Our national character — and to promote public recognition of that contribution. The official opening is

to be on October 15. Work on the $700,000 building began in January when 27 members of 2 Field Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Engineers in Linton arrived on site. Major Andy Anderson has overseen and co-ordi-nated the entire building project, which has included the casting of 174 concrete panels. Pre-cas-ting has been carried out in the area destined to be the museum’s forecourt. The wall panels, at 42ft long, are the longest made in New Zealand. They weigh 11 tonnes each. The men have worked fast and furiously since they began — day and night, through rain and snow. The only injury has been a strained back — caused through a slip on icy ground. The interior of the museum has five levels. Three vintage pieces from the Maori wars, mounted on moveable wooden blocks, will dominate the foyer. There will be an Armstrong field gun, a cannon, and brass Coehorn mortar. The photographic gallery will contain lifesize oval displays of individual soldiers of fame — and their personal belongings, such as swords, books, and documents. New Zealand’s colonial history will feature prominently. Lifelike models will flaunt the red. white, and blue uniforms of the day. There will be Imperial officers, members of the armed constabulary, and volunteer soldiers — all backed by a properly Victorian setting. A decided attraction will be the audio visual theatre, with its 54 comfortable armchairs. A variety of entertainment will be screened there, especially films of historical military interest. For the last decade, the extensive museum collection has been housed in an old wooden cookhouse. Apart from being unsuitable for the storage of valuable relics, the building was virtually inaccessible to most members of the public, being located well within camp grounds.