Ken Foote, Murray Jones and Donald Hurley, from the 7WnHB Battalion, said it was important to remember their regimental brothers. Photo / Paul Taylor
Ken Foote, Murray Jones and Donald Hurley, from the 7WnHB Battalion, said it was important to remember their regimental brothers. Photo / Paul Taylor
When the Wellington Infantry Regiment spent time at the Takapau Territorial camp in 1914, the weather was horrifically wet.
But from this damp setting came the inspired idea to modify a staple piece of New Zealand’s army uniform – the hat – into the shape ofa lemon squeezer.
It is widely believed that Colonel William George Malone, from Taranaki, made the functional change during the regiment’s camp at Oruawharo Homestead, which had 6000 troops gathered at the largest territorial camp of its time.
It is said he pushed the centre of his hat out so the water would run off, rather than pool on the felted headpiece.
The style became known colloquially as the Lemon Squeezer. It was maintained as a campaign hat by Malone’s Wellington Regiment at the Battle of Chunuk Bair and later by the rest of the NZ Infantry Division in 1916.
A parade in Takapau at the Oruawharo Homestead on August 10 is set to honour the hat’s creation and the men who wore them on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
A poignant ceremony scheduled two days earlier, on August 8, at the Napier War Memorial will focus on remembering the Battle of Chunuk Bair. The dedication of a memorial plaque will be made at the ceremony.
The battle took place from August 6-10, 1915, as part of a summer push by the Anzacs to try to seize high ground at Gallipoli from the Ottoman forces.
Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone. Photo / Supplied
For the 7 WnHB Regimental Association, honouring those who came before and set the path for today is something they strive to do.
Ken Foote, a former commanding officer of the 7th Wellington Hawke’s Bay Battalion and chairman of its regimental association, described the events as a “dual-purpose commemoration”.
Foote had a full career with the battalion spanning 32 years and said the two ceremonies were to ensure that all regimental association members could be included in the commemorations of the Lemon Squeezer and Chunuk Bair.
For Murray Jones, Donald Hurley and Foote, there is nothing as important as keeping the memory alive 109 years later.
The memorial plaque will sit in pride of place on a bench close to the Eternal Flame, which the men believed held significance.
“Many of the names up on the wall around the memorial were guys who would have served in the regiment.”
Foote said the Hawke’s Bay Regiment had an interesting and interwoven history from its origins in 1863 when the first volunteer infantry unit was established.
“Anybody who was in the infantry in Hawke’s Bay as a volunteer would have been serving with the regiment, and during that service we had members go to the Boer War, then WWI.
“Then members from this regiment made up the Hawke’s Bay company of the Wellington Battalion that landed at Gallipoli and were involved with the capture of Chunuk Bair.”
Foote said it was an “epic part of New Zealand military history and we adopted it as our birthday”.
The Hawke’s Bay Regiment ceased to exist in 1964 when it was amalgamated with the Wellington Regiment and that new unit became known as the 7 WnHB Battalion of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (RNZIR).
Foote said that, despite the word “regiment” being used to describe a military structure made up of two battalions, it was also used to describe a family that he was proud to be associated with.
“We join a regiment and it becomes part of us and who we are.”
It was important to educate younger generations about what their “regimental brothers” sacrificed.
“If there are no memories and places like this, people will forget.”
Events:
Dedication of memorial plaque: August 8 at the Napier War Memorial on Marine Parade.
Chunuk Bair Remembrance Service: August 10 at the Oruawharo Homestead (birthplace of Lemon Squeezer), Takapau at 2pm.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
