Memorial to retrace soldiers' road to war

PRIDE: The New Zealand War Memorial, Hyde Park Corner, London.PHOTO/FILE

A renowned New Zealand sculptor has designed a memorial to mark the significance of the Featherston Military Training Camp.

Bernard Jervis, chairman of the Featherston Camp Memorial Trust, which is leading the project, said they asked Paul Dibble to design the memorial because of his work on the New Zealand War Memorial in Hyde Park, London.

"It's a very distinct style and we wanted to reflect that here."

The bronze sculpture will consist of 10 columns with relief work on both sides, and is a deliberate nod to the London sculpture, said Mr Jervis.

The London memorial was unveiled in 2006 by Her Majesty the Queen and symbolises the bond between New Zealand and British soldiers fighting together.

"It's a very emotional concept for him, that represented the men fighting over there.

"What we have got now is a sculpture that will reflect the two-thirds of the total military force that went through the camp.

"This is where they came from and that's where they went to."

The camp was opened on 23 January, 1916 and for the remainder of World War I, 60,000 men trained there in preparation for serving on the Western Front and Palestine

Their training ended with a three-day march from the camp, over the Rimutaka ranges to Wellington, where they embarked on ships for service overseas.

Later, it was used as a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in World War II and during a riot in 1943, 49 people died.

It was the largest military camp in the country but little remains - the catalyst for the project, as well as the upcoming World War I centenary.

Mr Jervis said it was about remembering the connections between the camp and the town's people.

"It is not a war memorial, it's the story of Featherston and the camp during the first World War.

"We all know what the camp did but this is about what the town did to meet the situation," he said.

He said the town provided many services and facilities for the men, including the construction of Anzac Hall.

"It was a major impact on the small town to have a large camp on its boundary."

The memorial is designed to take up 22m in length with the columns standing at 3.2m high.

On one side of each column, camp buildings, soldiers marching and soldiers on horses will be depicted, memorialising the journey they made over the Rimutaka Hill as part of the "hardening up" preparation after completion of basic training.

Mr Jervis said the columns would slant towards the hill and at night, LED lights would make it look as if the solders were marching forward.

The other side of the columns had not been designed yet.

"We'd like the local community to come up with the design for that."

The trust was currently applying for building consents and grants to fund the project.

South Wairarapa District Council is supporting the project but not financially, said Mr Jervis.

He said it would take some time before the project was complete and where exactly it will go depends on the council's plan for the town centre development.

It will be gifted to Featherston once completed.