Pebbles to honour a Gallipoli fallen

TOUCH OF HOME: War historian Neil Frances, with a photograph of Alf Iggulden and the pebbles destined for Gallipoli. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Handfuls of pebbles gathered from a Masterton property are on their way to Gallipoli to be put at the foot of a war memorial to honour the memory of a fallen Kiwi soldier.

Alf Iggulden was killed in late August, 1915, along with 150 other New Zealand soldiers while trying to capture Hill 60 from the Turks during the disastrous World War I Gallipoli campaign.

Now a relative, Tina Owens, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, has arranged through Masterton war historian Neil Frances to have pebbles gathered from Mr Iggulden's old home in Villa St couriered to her.

She will be on the beach at Gallipoli on Anzac Day as part of the Australasian contingent selected to take part in the 100-year centenary of the outbreak of the war and has permission to place the pebbles at the Hill 60 Memorial.

Mr Iggulden has no known grave but his name is emblazoned on the memorial.

Mr Frances was contacted at Wairarapa Archive and asked if he would gather the pebbles from the grounds of Mr Iggulden's old home. He was happy to oblige.

Yesterday, he gathered the pebbles and prepared to thoroughly wash them to comply with Australian Customs requirements.

"Tina has told me there will be no problem getting the pebbles into Turkey," he said.

Alf Iggulden was born in Masterton in 1890 and was the youngest child of William and Georgina Iggulden.

He was educated at Masterton Central School.

He worked as a carrier before war broke out, living at home in Villa St with his parents, and enlisted in the Wellington Mounted Rifles on August 11, 1914.

Mr Iggulden was a talented rugby player and was runner-up in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force boxing championship, being beaten by Henry (Tas) Smith, also of Masterton.

At Gallipoli he survived the fight at No3 Post on May 30, 1915 and, after the August Offensive, Hill 60 was the junction of the British force at Suvla Bay and the Anzac perimeter.

It was decided to consolidate that junction with an attack on the hill's Turkish-held position and it was during this sustained attack, which gained some Turkish trenches but ultimately failed to take the hill, that Mr Iggulden was killed.

That attack was the last by New Zealanders at Gallipoli before the evacuation in December, 1915.

Mr Frances said people wanting to know more about the life and army service of Mr Iggulden could do so by accessing the website Wairarapa100.co.nz.