Poppy symbols bloom to honour our warriors

Neil Chambers, son William and grandson George, 6, last year handed over a portrait of Selwyn Chambers to Havelock North Primary School representatives Alice Hoogerbrug and Cooper McDougal.

Poppy symbols will start springing up on street signs around the region to honour those who fought for their country.

Havelock North's Selwyn Rd will be marked with a poppy after a public ceremony tomorrow - Poppy Day.

The street was named after Major Selwyn Chambers - who was killed in action during the battle of Suvla Bay in Gallipoli on August 7, 1915. He was 28.

The national Places of Remembrance project and New Zealand Poppy Places Trust are making sure the street signs, parks and other memorials that honour those who went to war are more easily recognised - by marking them with a poppy.

Local MP Craig Foss, Mayor Lawrence Yule, members of the Chambers family, RSA representatives and students from Havelock North Primary School will attend the unveiling at 3pm tomorrow, on the corner of Selwyn Rd and Margaret Ave in Havelock North. Selwyn was born into the well-known Chambers family on Tauroa Station in the latter years of the 19th century, and educated at Havelock North school.

He went on to become an active and popular member of the local community, becoming chairman of the Hawke's Bay Farmers Union as well as serving as a major in the territorials. At the outbreak of World War I, he quickly enlisted and became part of the Wellington Mounted Rifles. Being cavalry, horses were needed in great numbers. Between 1914 and 1916, the Government acquired more than 10,000 horses to equip the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces.

Havelock North School fundraised and bought their old boy, Selwyn, a horse for the war, which he named Sir Henry Havelock. The Hastings District Council is supporting the poppy project by collecting stories and photos from descendants and other local people, about places named after someone who went to war. The information will be sent on to the Poppy Places Trust for approval.

On Anzac Day, the second sign, Russell St, Hastings, will be unveiled. This street is a memorial to Napier-born Major General Sir Andrew Russell

-Poppy Places stories can be shared on www.myvoicemychoice.co.nz or sent to poppyplaces@hdc.govt.nz