BATTLE MEMORIALS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18624, 4 August 1922, Page 6

BATTLE MEMORIALS

PROGRESS OF THE WORK. THREE TO BE FININSHED BY SEPTEMBER. FRENCH AND GALLIPOLI ■ MONUMENTS. (Fbom Ocb Own Cobrespokdent.) LONDON, June 2> Before the end of the summer the New Zealand monuments at Gallipoli, at i<e Quesnoy, and at Longueville should be finished, and possibly an official unveiling o the French, memorials will take place m September. The Belgian authorities are slow to move and the protracted negotiations for acquiring the sites at Gxavenstafel -and Messines ate still proceeding. . If the'- lima is not acquired very shortly it vn.ll be possible to complete these memorials this summer. • ■ .. Mr S. Hurst Seager, the architect for one memorials, is now preparing the working drawings for the monuments in Belgium. In this ho is assisted by Mr Stanley Natusch, of Wellington, a New Zealand Expeditionary Force scholarship holder, who has already distinguished himself in architectural competitions. Mr A. R. Fraser, the sculptor, has clone the modelling for the Le Quesnoy tablet, so that three New Zealanders are thus engaged on the important ■ work fox the Dominion Government. Working drawings for the monument at Gallipoli have been prepared and the firm of contractors employed by the Imperial War Graves Commission , for , its work in the cemeteries in that, area, have been asked to submit a price for the monument. They, of course are in the beat possible position to act, and to carry out the contract economically, os they have opened out quarries and have arrangements for transport. The monument will be in white limestone from the TJlgan Der© quarries. This is a considerable distance fro™ the various silica and the. stone has to be sent down to the seaboards and carried in barges to the various points on the coast which are nearest to the work in. hand. The ’nearest point for Chunuk Bair memorial will be Kelia Bay, where the War Graves headquarters are situated. _ The' monument will be 4Sft in height, 18ft 6in at the base, and 12ft 6ifi at the top. As earthquakes have occurred in this district, every precaution has been taken by reinforcement to guard. against any damage being doo?o. Care has been taken in the design to got- the greatest amount of superficial area for the least expense of material, so that the monument is easily visible from the Narrows, which are the main course of traffic for Constantinople. The nearest point where the steamers turn in the Narrows is about five miles. On the JEgean side the atone will stand out with great boldness, as the shore is only 1500 yards away. If a satisfactory tender is received it will be possible to at once accept it and arrange that the work shall be completed in the late autumn. ■ ■

A GREAT UNDERTAKING AT LE QUESNOY. It •will be remembered that the scheme at Le Quesnoy is quite an elaborate one. From, the Place in the centre of the town, an avenue, entered through an ancient gateway, leads to the walb. The pathway circles the inside of oho of tho projecting ramparts, and finds exit through the wall, across a causeway, and so on to an island outside the walls. On the wall facing the island, and not many feet from Where the New Zealanders placed their ladder, the plaque, depicting the scaling of the wall ond an overshadowing figure of victorious Peace, is to be placed. The preparation of the ground, the penetration ol the wall, the building of the causeway, the planting of the trees, and the necessary turfing has been a big undertaking, and through the winter has occupied 12 men for nearly three months. Mr Hurst Seager was at Le Quesnoy for the greater part of tho time. All the excavation work and tho formation of the approach through the fortification, the archway ond pathway, and the causeway formed from the material taken from the cutting have now been completed. The garden upon the island, which forms the point of view for the memorial, has also been made. On the island will be a marble balustrade, from which ' an excellent view of the sculpture at a distance of 40ft across the moat will be obtained. The whole of the gardening and turfing work has been carried out in a most satisfactory manner by the Imperial War Graves Commission gardeners, under the general direction of Captain Parker, horticultural officer of the War Graves Commission in France, and Mr Gill, the divisional horticultural officer at Arras. A SEVERE WINTER TASK. The work was done under trying oirenmstances, said Mr Hurst Seager, but it has been brought to a satisfactory conclusion and in a most economical way. At times 18deg of frost were registered, and in between the frosts there wore heavy rains. The weather thus made the turfing very difficult. By the kind permission of the authorities in charge of the fortifications, the turf was obtained from other localities round tho outside of the walla. Many thousands of soda had to be placed in position and staked down to prevent tho rain and froet from displacing them. Inside, the walls are supported by a buttress of earth. This had to be out through to expose the wall, which is 30ft high and 9ft thick at the top. Bastions are built against the wall at an interval of every eight feet, and between two of these bastions the wall has been penetrated and the archway formed. Tho brickwork is in varying tones of colour, with streaks of yellow mortar, and presents a most artistic appearance. In order to preserve the colouring the brickwork has been sprayed with a petrifying liquid, and the bricks used to build up the archway were chosen to harmonise with the general colour scheme.

“AVENUE D’HONNHUR DBS NBOZELAKIDAIS." ■ Over the entrance to the avenue leading from the Place D’Amto is to be erected a plaque, 4ft by 2ft, bearing the inscription, “Avenue d’Honneur dee Neo-Zelandais.” The avenue itself, which leads through pleasant surroundings, has been developed and planted wjt.h additional trees, and the sides of the approach to the archway in the wall have here been turfecL Once through the archway the path runs over the causeway built across the moat. The sides of the causeway are turfed, and the island to which it leads has been planted with trees and shrubs. Between the island and the wall runs a small stream, and the moat itself has hoen turned into a garden. The plants, so far as possible, are New Zealand shrubs, but very few New Zealand trees will standthe climate. The best representative trees of the Allies are, therefore, used. Dr Hill, of Kew Gardens, very kindly supplied a list of New Zealand plants which are likely to thrive in France, and Mr Dyke Acland, of Somerset, who takes a very great interest in the cultivation of New Zealand flora, has very kindly given a large number of New Zealand shrubs, including some hundred Arunda conspicua, better known as toi-toi. Some 250 veronicas have been planted, including 12 varieties, and a large number of olearias. Ribbonwood, too, is to be tried, and manuka might grow in the sheltered position in the moat. From Kcw Gardena came a present of 67 plants, so that with these and what have been given by Mr Dyke Acland the oost of procuring plants has been very small indeed.

DISTINGUISHED FRENCH SCULPTOR. The marble block on which the memorial is to be cut has left Trieste, but it has not yet reached its destination. As already stated, the model is by Mr A. R. Fraser, and it will be out in the marble by M. Felii Dosruellos, who, this year, has three

very fine, pieces of sculpture In the Salon, and in his hands people may be confident that a highly artistic work will be produced. Surrounding the marble plaque will be a dark stone, acting as a gradation in colouring from the brick of the wall to the marble. On this will be carved the inscriptions. On the left will be the words: “En I'honneiir dee homines' de la Nouvelle Zelande grace a la valour desquels la villa de Le Quesnoy fut rendue ala France, le 4 % Novembre, 1918.” And on the right: “In honour of the men of New Zealand through whose valour the . town of Le Quesnoy was restored to France, 4th November, 1918.” Inside the balustrade of the terrace (below the plaque in the line of vision) will be inscribed the words: “From the uttermost ends of the earth.” It has been very gratifying to see the manner in which the people -of Le Quesnoy have shown their appreciation of what New Zealand is doing. The work during its progress was watched with the greatest in- • terest, and they regard it as a sacred undertaking, which is carried out in honour of the men who saved - their town and for the benefit of those whom they rescued. It is considered there will be no need to fence the garden in, as the council and the people are extremely anxious to protect it. The High Commissioner has sent a letter to the Mayor for forwarding to the heads of schools in the town, pointing out the necessity of impressing on their scholars that all that New Zealand has done at Le Quesnoy is in honour- of the men who restored the town to France—men who made great sacrifices in coining 13,000 miles in order that they might take part in this great work. If a code of honour were established, he thinks, the necessity for enclosing the gardens would disappear. The well-wooded_ space in the moat, however, will be fenced in, LONGUEVAL MONUMENT. At Longneval the memorial will stand on the high ground, and will be easily seen from the whole of the surrounding villages and from the roads leading to them. The monument itself has a diameter of 23ft, the encircling railings will have a diameter of 46ft. Outside the railings there is to be a 14ft road and endxcing the road a plantation 14ft wide. Roads in the district are still in a .deplorable tondition, and it is only recently that they have been able to repair the last mile sufficiently to bring a traction engine along. The 120 tons of stone are arriving at Albert, and are now being transported the remaining 12 kilometres by motor lorries. Concrete foundations have already been put down — not without difficulty, for it was found that the foundations had to go down 9ft. Old war material has been used for re-inforcing the concrete. The marble for the monument is from the Nebresina quarries at Trieste, and it has been shaped and carved in the quarries. - • BRIDGE AND INSCEIPTIONSBe aides the inscriptions on the stone there will be in the front the New Zealand badge now being used on the headstones. Around this will be carved a wreath of laurels, contained within a square panel, with a border of conventional Maori ornament. The model for this was executed by Mr Fraser. On the front face of the obelisk, the inscription will read: “In honour of the men of the .New Zealand Division. First Battle of the Somme, 1916.” On the reverse aide the same inscription' will be written m French. On the side will be written: ■ “The New Zealand Division, after gaining this position as their first objective, .launched horn it the successful attack on Flers, September 15, 1916.” .On the reverse side will, be the same words in French. Careful consideration was given by the High Commissioner to these words owing to the fact that another division—the 41st—took part in the attack on Flers, and actually entered port of the village before the New Zealanders, but the north-western part of the village waa in the line of the attack of the dominion troops. Both General Sir A. J. Godley and General Edmonds, who was in charge of the Historical Records Department, agreed that no exception could be taken to the inscription. At the base of the monument in front will be: “From the uttermost ends of the earth.” On the reverse the same in French;! “Des oonfins ies plus reculea de la terre.” It is hoped that this monument, together with that at Le Quesnoy, will be ready for unveiling in September.