Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. ‘We must contribute’ The Pahiatua Region and the Second World War 1939 – 45 The town of Pahiatua, late 1930s A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in History Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Stewart Holdaway 2019 i INDEX Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Illustrations iv Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Centennial Year 12 Chapter Two: The Military Reaction and Response 46 Chapter Three: The Social Impact of the War 76 Chapter Four: Industry in the Pahiatua region 101 Chapter Five: Local and National Governance 135 Conclusions 163 Bibliography 168 ii Abstract When war broke out in September 1939 approximately 500 men and women from the Pahiatua region enlisted in the armed forces of New Zealand, the British Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. But what was life like at home while these men and women served? This thesis examines the role the Second World War played on a ‘typical’ example of rural New Zealand, the Pahiatua region. It focuses on three key issues for the region during this time, the impact of the war, how business was affected, and the role played by local and national government in the region. New Zealand during the Second World War has been a source of previous research. However, the majority of this research has concentrated on either a national perspective or a specific theme. Very little has been written on regional history during this time. This thesis attempts to address this by looking at a region that has barely been referred to in the secondary sources. This thesis sheds new light on the Pahiatua region during the Second World War. Far from being a silent observer the region played an active role in supporting the war effort both socially and financially. There was very much a feeling in the region of ‘we must contribute’. iii Acknowledgements I am firstly indebted to my supervisors, Dr Glyn Harper and Dr John Griffiths. There were many twists and turns throughout the process of writing this thesis and without their continuous support I doubt I would have finished this journey. I would like to acknowledge the financial and time support given to me by my employer, IPU New Zealand, in completing this thesis. I also wish to thank all the archivists and library staff that I troubled for resources. My thanks to my family for being a continuous fountain of support, despite me being at times a very absentee member. Finally, my thanks to the region of Pahiatua, for giving me an interesting subject to write about, and from where my interest in the Second World War originates. iv Illustrations Main Street, Pahiatua, 1930s 14 Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries Memorial Square, Pahiatua 45 Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries S.K Siddells, Mayor of Pahiatua 1938 -1942 47 Archives Central, Feilding Donation of Bren Gun Carrier 94 Archives Central, Feilding Internees Camp – Pahiatua 22 February 1943 156 Archives New Zealand, Wellington Children playing on grass 162 Archives New Zealand, Wellington 1 Introduction The Pahiatua Region and the Second World War When I mentioned to a number of people that I was thinking of completing my Masters, the overall response was positive. I was almost always told that the hardest part about writing a thesis is choosing the topic. This is something I certainly struggled with at the beginning. I knew that I wanted to research and write about something I was interested in and hopefully it would have something to do with the area I grew up in. I was born and raised in the dairy- farming district of Ballance, named after the former New Zealand Prime Minister John Ballance1. Being from Ballance, and a former dairy-farmer, I seriously considered writing about some aspect of farming history. But as I went through the process my thoughts and interests changed until one topic became clear. A topic that on reflection now seems quite obvious and had been staring me straight in the face through most of my life. Ballance is in the Pahiatua Region and the topic I was to eventually decide on was something that I had seen the memorials to nearly every day while travelling to Pahiatua for high school and work. It sometimes seems that every small town in New Zealand must have its own iconic memorial. Ohakune has the giant carrot, Paeroa 1 John Ballance, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1891-1893), Leader of the Opposition (1889-1891) 2 the giant L&P bottle, and even Eketahuna has a giant kiwi. Pahiatua, of course, has one of its own. Anyone who drives into the township of Pahiatua from the north can’t help but notice the replica Harvard Air Trainer from the Second World War.2 In fact, anyone driving into Pahiatua can’t help but notice the memorials to the Second World War that are scattered throughout the town. If you come from the south, you will notice a strange white statue shaped like a crab claw. This is the Polish Memorial. The Polish Memorial Inscribed at the base of the Polish Memorial is the following inscription: 2 The original Harvard airplane was put up in late 1963. It was replaced with a fibreglass model in December 2015 and the playground was renamed the Harvard Adventure Playground. 3 THIS MEMORIAL On the site of the former Polish children’s camp Was erected by the Polish Community In appreciation of the shelter given By the people of New Zealand To 734 Polish children in 1944 In World War 2 they survived Deportation to Siberia And after a temporary stay in Iran Found in this country Home, friends and security 22 February 19753 From the north, as mentioned previously, the first thing your eye is drawn to is the iconic replica Harvard Air Trainer in the Pahiatua playground, which now sees usage as a quite scary slide. From the west you drive towards the Pahiatua War Memorial Park with its two cenotaphs to the war dead of the Pahiatua region. Despite this obvious history and reverence to its role, in particular, to the Second World War, it is a region that has to some degree forgotten the important role and contribution it played in the history of the Second World War in New Zealand. When I started my research for this thesis, I was told in no uncertain terms by a resident of the community that 3 Inscribed at the base of the memorial. 4 “nothing happened in Pahiatua during the war.” However, as I hope my thesis proves nothing could be further from the truth. The Harvard Air Trainer This thesis will attempt to answer three key questions. They are: what was the impact of the war on the people of the region? How were the industries of the region affected by the war? And what role did local and national government play in the region? Pahiatua actually proves to be an interesting region in which to examine how the Second World War affected small, rural communities in New Zealand. For example, here is a small selection of the numerous events that happened in Pahiatua during the war years. A Polish Children’s Camp was established in Pahiatua in 1944. Local man Sergeant Keith Elliott was awarded the Victoria Cross, one of only 5 eight New Zealanders to do so in the Second World War.4 An internment camp for the accommodation of enemy soldiers/aliens was established in Pahiatua for a short time. There were large-scale natural disasters and numerous political figures made visits to the region.5 Not many areas in New Zealand can claim even this small amount of history during the war years. These factors combined with the effect the Second World War had on the industries of Pahiatua, (farming, brewery and transport) and the social impacts felt by the people in the community make for a very interesting case study. This thesis is suitable for a variety of reasons. While there has been a significant amount of research on the impact of the Second World War on New Zealand in general, most notably Nancy Taylor’s two volume The Home Front (1986), little has been written on the impact of the Second World War in specific regions of New Zealand.6 There is a great deal of information about the Polish Children’s camp that was set up in Pahiatua and many books have been written by historians and the children who stayed there, but most are from the Polish perspective. In fact, very little has been written about the experience of the people in the Pahiatua region towards the war. 4 He would later return to Pahiatua to a hero’s welcome. A book about the first fifty years of his life was later published in 1967. Elliott, K & Adshead, R. From Cowshed to Dogcollar (1967). Wellington, New Zealand: A.H. & A.W.Reed, 1967. 5 The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Peter Fraser, and the Governor-General, Lord Galway, being two such visitors. 6 Taylor, N. The Home Front (Volumes One and Two), Wellington: Historical Publications Branch New Zealand, 1986. 6 Despite having a rich history, very little has been written on the history of Pahiatua recently.7 Angus McCullum’s history of the Pahiatua County, Tui Country: A History of the Pahiatua County was published in 1988.