A military march as part of Armistice celebrations in Gisborne in 1918. Photo / Tairāwhiti Museum
A military march as part of Armistice celebrations in Gisborne in 1918. Photo / Tairāwhiti Museum
Gisborne’s military history takes the limelight this Anzac Day with a guided tour of significant sites and an exhibition of related photographs at Heritage Tairāwhiti’s Centre for Heritage.
Committee members James Blackburne, Sheridan Gundry, Joe Martin and Marty Reynolds will lead the tour, telling stories of the many monuments andmemorials, protection measures like slit trenches and pillboxes, and the use of Titirangi/Kaiti Hill and Te Poho-o-Rāwiri Marae for military purposes.
Heritage Tairāwhiti chairwoman Gundry says the tour will start at the group’s Palmerston Rd centre with a short video about the history of the Army Hall.
“We will then walk along the Taruheru River, over Gladstone Rd and William Pettie bridges and back via the Peel Street Bridge, taking in the stories along the way.
“This tour replaces our usual Taruheru River tour as its last Saturday of the month date coincided with Anzac Day – a great opportunity to feature our military history.
“As part of that, we have put together an accompanying exhibition of photographs from the vast collection held by Tairāwhiti Museum.
“We are extremely grateful to the museum for the use of these images, which provide just a snapshot of different aspects of our military history,” Gundry said.
“We encourage people to join our tour and to visit the museum, which holds items of traditional Māori weaponry, and arms and equipment of 19th-century local units. The C Company Memorial House next door is the repository of the archive of C Company 28th Māori Battalion World War II and photographs and memorabilia from local iwi covering all areas of the military from the 20th century.”
The return of the Māori Battalion at the Gladstone Rd/Peel St corner in 1946. Photo / Tairāwhiti Museum
The tour starts at the Centre for Heritage (former Plunket Building) in Palmerston Rd at 11am and will go for about 90 minutes. Koha entry appreciated.
The centre will be open from 10.30am until 1pm, Saturday to Monday, for viewing the exhibition and other videos relating to Gisborne’s military history.
The Taruheru River tour resumes on May 30, the last Saturday of the month. For more information, email info@ht.org.nz or phone 0274782900.
