Kerikeri op shop gets relic of first major prize to fall to the New Zealand Pacific Division during World War II

Volunteer Leigh Rockell and Hospice Mid Northern manager Ashley Haig with the World War II relic found in the charity’s store recently.

You never know just what’s going to turn up in a search through an op shop, with many treasures found during such visits.

Now, a World War II war relic of the first major prize to fall into the hands of the New Zealand Pacific Division during the war has surfaced in a Kerikeri op shop.

The find, at the Kerikeri Hospice Green Shed Shop, has excited historians.

The war relic commemorates the involvement of New Zealand troops during the bloody conflict that took place on the island of Vella Lavella during World War II.

The framed souvenir includes identification plates and Imperial Japanese Government paperwork taken from the Japanese vessel Varuasi that was captured by New Zealand soldiers in the 1943 battle.

According to news reports of the day, the ship was the first major prize to fall to soldiers of the New Zealand Pacific Division.

“Our attention was drawn to this artefact by WSP Blenheim senior archaeologist Kirsty Sykes, a friend of volunteer Leigh Rockell, who works at the Hospice Green Shed,” Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland manager Bill Edwards said.

“She immediately saw its historic value and advised us. The Hospice Green Shed very kindly lent us the item so we could examine it and do a bit of investigating.”

Edwards said a little research soon revealed that the framed keepsake is actually an important war relic with an amazing back-story, which first surfaced in the pages of the Northern Advocate on October 18, 1943.

The relic - marking the first major prize to fall into the hands of the New Zealand Pacific Division during World War II - was found in the Kerikeri Hospice Green Shed Shop.

Sydney Sun war correspondent Winston Turner wrote:

“A small New Zealand army patrol captured a Japanese schooner intact at Varuasi, wiped out the crew and landed the ammunition and stores during the Vella Lavella campaign.

“The patrol, in the charge of Captain Robert Adams, spotted the Japanese busy as beavers in a mangrove swamp gathering camouflage for the schooner. Splitting the patrol into three parties, Captain Adams detailed one to capture the schooner, another to cover the operation from the other side of the bay, and the third to cut off the retreat of the Japanese.”

The first party found that all the crew were ashore and then promptly boarded the schooner and manned the Japanese guns that were mounted on the vessel.

The second and third parties pursued the crew, eventually shooting them as they tried to escape. Two New Zealand soldiers were killed in the operation.

An official war correspondent with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force confirmed that the 60-foot ‘barge’ powered by a three-cylinder diesel engine was ‘an object of considerable interest’, being the first major prize to fall into the hands of the New Zealand Pacific Division.

“The purpose of the vessel was to carry men, munitions and rations to isolated Japanese garrisons, and as such it was well armed with machine guns at the bow and stern of the ship. It was also heavily sandbagged on the top and at the sides of the bridge,” Edwards said.

“Reports indicate that it was towed to headquarters, where it may have been used by the New Zealand Army.”

The war relic is almost sure to have been an item in a family collection, though its connection to Northland is not known.

“We’d love to hear from anyone who might be able to shed some more light on the history of the souvenir, possibly a family connection, for example. It also highlights that there are all sorts of taonga out there that we don’t know about – and whose heritage value may not be widely understood,” Edwards said.

An anonymous donor has since purchased the war relic and will be donating it to the National Army Museum at Waiouru.

“We’re very grateful to the Hospice Shop for recognising that you can’t really put a dollar value on an artefact like this, and that its true worth lies in its heritage value,” Edwards said.

Hospice is mindful of the fact that some items it receives have significant historical importance, according to Hospice Mid Northern manager Ashley Haig.

“We try to link these items with people who we know will appreciate their heritage value,” she said.

People curious about the heritage value of any items that they have are encouraged to contact their local museum as a first port of call.

■ The Battle of Vella Lavella was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on the night of October 6, 1943, near the island of Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands. It marked the end of a three-month fight to capture the central Solomon Islands, as part of the Solomon Islands campaign.

The battle took place at the end of the ground campaign on Vella Lavella, as the Japanese sought to evacuate the 600-strong garrison from the island. The garrison had become hemmed into a small pocket on the northern end of the island around Marquana Bay. While a force of around 20 auxiliary ships and barges evacuated the stranded soldiers, a force of nine Japanese destroyers fought a short, but sharp engagement with six US Navy destroyers to the north of the island, thus diverting attention from the evacuation. As a result of the engagement, the Japanese evacuation effort was successfully concluded. Each side lost one destroyer sunk.