THE TALE THEY TELL:
THE CENOTAPHS
When Bert fell, his comrades remained fighting for their lives, but they did what they could to mark his passing.
Bert’s army records show he was “buried in a shell hole back in supports at Mailly-Maillet” the same day he was killed. Arthur Burnside, who was a signaller alongside Bert in 3rd Company and who by November, when he wrote to the family, had been promoted to Lance corporal, said they buried Bert, and six others who fell alongside him on that morning, a mile in front of the village of Mailly-Maillet and “a very decent cross marks his resting place.”
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There were many small burials of men made like this across the battlefield. By the end of 1918, once the battles had moved on, Bert’s remains, along with the bodies of other soldiers buried in such sites, were disinterred and taken for reburial at the Euston Road Cemetery which the army decided would become one of the key burial grounds in the area.
Thanks to the records kept by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission which now administers the cemetery, we can put faces to those others who died during that night with Bert – all young men in their 20s, most of them having served less time than Bert. He was by then, as he had written in a letter back to the family, an old hand in 3rd Coy.
The War Graves Commission has an army record from 1921 – Form W.3372 – which notes the names of six New Zealanders who had been dug from their temporary grave and moved to a permanent resting place at Euston Road. Though Bert and each of his comrades has a gravestone in the Euston Road cemetery, Bert’s body is not identified for certain and all six share the same epithet carved onto their headstones: “Believe to be buried in this cemetery.” It must have been a grim business being involved in that process of relocating the fallen soldiers and it is understandable that whoever completed the task could not determine which of the corpses unearthed matched with the names written on whatever piece of paper the NZEF had provided listing who was buried in that particular grave. (And perhaps also Burnside had it wrong and there were not Bert plus six others, but simply six altogether buried in that one shell hole, for it seems those who recovered the bodies, only pulled six from the ground.)
All six who were killed during that same early morning desperate fight in the trenches near One Tree Hill lie now beside each other in a row: Fred Fothergill, number 38681, aged 21, a nurseryman from Otahuhu who came over in the 22nd reinforcements and Lance Corporal Reginald Youngman, 51812, also 21, from Canterbury (it is not known how he ended up in the Auckland infantry coming from the South Island.) He had sailed to France with the 27th reinforcements. Although the War Graves Commission records list him as a private, he was a Lance Corporal. There was James Dawes, 49074, 24-years-old, a machinist from central Auckland, an Australian by birth, who came across as part of the 26th reinforcements and Guylott Henry Deed, 51698, aged 22, a farmer from Waiuku, who joined with the 29th reinforcements. The only man who had volunteered and served longer than Bert was Stuart Reid, 23431, aged 22, a bushman from Rotorua, from the 7th reinforcements.
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The Euston Road Cemetery sits midway along the D4129, the little road which connects the village of Colincamps, which had briefly been occupied by German troops before being cleared by the Whippet tanks the day before Bert died, and Euston Junction, the important section of road where the Dinks had dug in on the day the New Zealanders went into action to close the gap. Bert lies now about two kilometres from where he fell.
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The cemetery was started as a front line burial ground in 1916 during the first Battle of the Somme and was not used much again until the New Zealand advance of 1918. After the 1918 Armistice, more than 750 graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields and a series of small cemeteries which were then abandoned. The Euston Road cemetery now contains 1,127 Commonwealth burials.
The first member of the family to ever visit the grave was Laurie Hampshire, son of Bert’s younger sister Rose. He went there in 1996 and said the D4129 was a small, single lane, tar sealed road hidden amongst fields of corn and almost impossible to find.
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Laurie’s wife Mary Hampshire wrote a letter back to family about the experience:
“Tomorrow, July 1st, is the 80th anniversary of the battle of the Somme [the 1916 First Battle of the Somme] and having visited the area, I have come home thinking that when in New Zealand we commemorate Anzac Day, we concentrate on the history of Gallipoli and forget about the Somme and later Passchendaele. The loss of life in those battles is horrendous, British, New Zealand, Australia, South African, Canadian. One battalion of 800 from New Foundland, Canada, lost 500 in the first half hour of a battle.
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“I had expected to see cemeteries that covered large areas - and there were several, but most were like where Bert is buried, a small area, about half the size of a football field. Colincamps is just a T junction of two roads, the name Euston Road was the name used by the army to describe the particular road. The cemetery is along the road about three to four kilometres from Colincamps. It is a very narrow road, with grain crops on either side. These crops come right up to the edge of the road and then, along a straight stretch of road, there is this one cemetery. The solid outside walls, hidden as we approached because of the height of the wheat growing alongside.
“The land is flat and as far as the eye could see, it was covered in crops. There are no houses, trees or hedges. The cemetery is set out like the others we saw in the area, beautifully kept with flowers and lawns neatly mown and edges trimmed. There is always a large cross and also a plaque describing the particular cemetery. Inside one of the supports for the gate is a cupboard built into the wall, containing a description of this particular cemetery and the details of the men who are known or believed to have been buried in this cemetery. Bert is recorded in the latter category - his headstone is in a group which is called a special memorial. In the cemetery there are many, many headstones which say the soldier buried there is unknown.
“There is a visitors' book in which Laurie recorded our visit - there had been people there in the days previous to us.
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“While we were in the area we visited some of the other memorials. The New Foundland memorial has left the battlefield just as it was with the trenches. They have filled in a bit and the sides rounded, but just the same it gave one the feeling of what it must have been like. Laurie spent a lot of time walking through them, bringing to him the full realisation of what his father and uncles had experienced. Fred was involved in Gallipoli then the Somme, later Passchendaele. I had uncles who fought on the Somme, but my father was wounded on Gallipoli and was returned to New Zealand.
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“It was an interesting area to visit, not realising how extensive the whole area is, I wish we had had more time to have looked more thoroughly right up to Flanders. When we were in the Somme the poppies were just beginning to bloom. When we left France a few weeks later they were everywhere - growing in waste areas, a brilliant sea of red. I could understand the poem In Flanders' fields the poppies grow. When I looked around at the countryside, I just wondered why battles ever had to be fought - it was a wide expanse of rural France, cropping as far as one could see.”
Bert lies there now in that picturesque tranquility buried alongside 285 fellow New Zealanders who died in the 1918 action to close the gap in the British line. There are also British, Canadian, Australian and one Indian soldier from battles in the area.
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A little over two weeks after he was killed, Bert’s death was officially recorded in the Roll of Honour in the New Zealand Herald of 12 April 1918. He is listed Killed in Action along with 105 other men. On the same page Gordon Coates is listed as wounded but remaining with his unit.
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The next day on 13 April, the family placed a death notice in the Herald. It reads:
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Gadd - On March 27, killed in action. Herbert (Bert), the beloved eldest son of Herbert and Annie Gadd, of Pokeno; aged 22 years. Deeply regretted. “Greater love hath no man than this.”
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The quote is from John XV:14 which in full reads: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The family, or whoever at the paper took their information, appears to have Bert’s age wrong. He was, according to his birth certificate, just 21.
The family sent out memorial cards to friends and family. They read: “In Loving Memory of Herbert Gadd 19th Reinforcements, eldest son of Herbert and Annie Gadd, Who was killed in action, March 27, 1918, Aged 21 years.” It also included the following poem:
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“Killed in action,” say the cables,
That is all the tale they tell
Of the brave young lad who loved us,
Of the lad we loved so well.
How the life was sped we know not,
What the last word, look, or thought.
Only that he did his duty
Died as bravely as he fought.
Each family of dead servicemen was also given a memorial plague by the Government, showing Britannia holding a wreath, and a lion, dolphins and the words: “He died for freedom and honour.” The soldier’s name is then stamped onto it. The family has Bert’s plaque.
We also have Bert’s birth certificate, which carries an interesting feature. It records his birth at Rowley Regis, Birmingham on 4 June 1896. On the back is a hand written note which reads: “This is the certificate of birth marked [the mark looks like an unusual C] referred to by Annie Gadd in her declaration taken before me this 27th day of January 1919. [There is an indecipherable signature.] Justice of the Peace for New Zealand.” This could well show that Annie had to present Bert’s birth certificate to qualify for some form of Government payment such as a compensation payout.
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Bert was posthumously awarded two service medals. They are identified as Bert’s because all medals had the soldier’s name engraved on the side rim.
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The British War Medal recognises service in World War I. It has the profile of King George V on the obverse and St George on horseback on the reverse, trampling a skull and cross-bones of death and an eagle shield representing the Germans and their allies. Above, the sun rises in victory. St George is mounted to symbolise mankind relied on external help, an allusion to the increased mechanization of WWI from machine guns to planes.
The Victory Medal was awarded to all New Zealand troops who served overseas. The obverse shows Victory holding a palm branch in her right hand and stretching out her left hand. On the reverse is a laurel wreath containing a four-line inscription: "The great war for civilisation 1914-1919". The date extends to 1919 to include post-war action by Allied forces in the Russian Civil War. About 6 million of both medals were produced as they were also used by other Allied countries who contributed troops to the war.
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Bert is commemorated on at least four cenotaphs in New Zealand.
Auckland War Memorial Museum
The elegant museum is, in its very fabric, a cenotaph with the names of memorable battles from WWI and WWII carved into its outside walls. It’s second floor contains a beautiful hall of remembrance, with the names of fallen soldiers engraved on white marble in gold: Bert’s name as a member of the Auckland Infantry Battalion is listed there.
Soon after the museum was built it issued a series of post cards showing sections of the wall that family members could buy showing their loved one. The family has one of these cards showing Bert’s name. The card reads:
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“Roll of Honour. Auckland War Memorial Museum. They whom the inscriptions upon these walls commemorate are those from the provincial district of Auckland who at the call of King and country left all that was dear to them, endured hardness, faced danger and finally passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self-sacrifice giving their lives that others might live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten.”
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The museum also has access to a wealth of personnel records and has digitised them into an online cenotaph, usefully making them available to all.
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There is also a standing exhibition showing New Zealand at war called Scars on the Heart which provides many useful insights into World War I. For instance, it shows the uniform of a Cadet – the organisation Bert joined when the family lived in Oratia. The exhibition includes a specialist military library for public use called the Armoury.
Pokeno
Pokeno township is regarded as the place where the Gadds lived, though, in fact, the family farm was on a hill somewhat between Pokeno and Mercer. Its cenotaph records Bert’s name. A photo survives in the family which shows the crowd gathered at its inaugural commemoration after being built.
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The cenotaph is slightly unusual in that it records not only those who died but all who served from the area around Pokeno. It has four sides and lists 52 names. Three of the sides are a roll call of those who served and returned and includes Mick Kew and Philip Hitchen. The other lists 14 who died, including Bert and reads: “Respectfully dedicated to the memory of our glorious dead and in honour of those Britons who served with them 1914 to 1918 by Pokeno residents. For us they fought. For us they fell.”
Mercer
This is one of the more interesting and beautiful town cenotaphs and Bert is recorded here also, presumably as Bert and his father had worked in the timber mill and Mercer could claim him as one of theirs. The cenotaph is constructed from an old turret from a colonial gunship used in the NZ Land Wars. On top is a statue of a soldier, painted in khaki.
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David Gadd, Bert's younger brother, in later life wrote reminiscences about the early days of the Gadd family, including their time in Pokeno. He included the following piece.
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"When we lived for four-and-a-half years on the Great South Rd, halfway between Pokeno and Mercer, we used to hear a lot about the terrible Koheroa Hill road. It was either up or down - steep and unmetalled and was the connection between Mercer and Maungatawhiri. We only went that way on horseback or in the gig - or the two horse wagon - most often in the latter. Just at the start of the Koheroas, in a paddock, was a Maori war turret and further along was another. We used to wonder how on earth they got there - they were so big and so heavy. Frank and I and some of the older girls often inspected them. The far off one was on a farm, on the side of a hill - it was leaning sideways. I wonder if one of these is now at Ngaruawahia - one is there in the park. Bert's name is on the one at Mercer, in the township. It was not where it is now when I was a boy."
The cenotaph has two plaques explaining the origins of the turret. The upper plague reads: “This gun turret was on HMS Pioneer, a gunboat used by the British Forces during the Land Wars. The date on the plague below is factually incorrect. HMS Pioneer was built in 1863 and later wrecked on the Manukau Bar in 1866.”
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The lower plague – the one with the wrong dates – reads: “This turret was built in the year 1873 and was used on Gunboat Pioneer during the Maori War.”
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The actual cenotaph plaque reads: “To the glory of God and in loving memory of the men of this district who gave their lives during the Great War 1914-1918.”
Hamilton
After the war, Hamilton was where the Gadds eventually settled, with members of the family still living there today: so Bert came to be commemorated here also.
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Initially each soldier commemorated in Hamilton had a tree planted in their name on the eastern bank of the Waikato River at Soldiers Memorial Park. Their name on a metal plaque painted green and about the size of a hand was attached to the tree. But the trees grew too large and when the park was remodeled to create easier walkways they were felled. Instead a memorial wall was created and the names of each soldier, including Bert’s, is now recorded on that.
Oratia
Bert is also commemorated on the gates of Oratia School in West Auckland, but this memorial is a bit of an anomaly. H B Gadd is listed on a plaque among those “who made the supreme sacrifice” and is noted as a former pupil of the school. The Gadd family did live in Oratia for a time. Frank, David, Rose, Jesse and Doris all attended Waikomiti School from December 1910 to June 1912. The school has a long history. It was originally started in the interdenominational church on the corner of West Coast Rd and Parker Rd in 1882. Then a new school was built in 1886 on the corner of West Coast Rd and Shaw Rd, the current site. In 1915 its name was changed to Oratia District Primary School. So it is very likely Bert is the H B Gadd commemorated here. However, Bert – officially Herbert, so H Gadd – never had a middle name. He was just plain Herbert Gadd. The ‘B’ he has gained on the Oratia memorial is most probably a confusion with the fact he was always called Bert. So someone, years after the family had left the region, has turned him into H B Gadd. There is one other minor issue. Bert never actually attended the school as far as the family can tell. We have a Certificate of Proficiency for Bert dated 5 December 1910 from Newton West School and these were usually issued when you left school. He was then 14. He would have been well known in the Oratia area though. He and and another teenager in the area, Willie Shaw, had been in the Senior Cadets while living in Oratia. Willie is also recorded on the memorial near Bert’s name. Willie was killed in May 1918, barely two months after Bert, and is buried in the same Euston Road Cemetary. Again, it is probable that the community, when making the memorial some years after the war, assumed Bert attended the school alongside his brothers and sisters. Regardless of the quibbles over whether Bert went to the school or not, it is nice to have his memory recorded there.
Oratia School War Memorial Gate 1914-1918, 1 Shaw Rd, Oratia, Auckland. This image by John Halpin in 2012 was uploaded to Bert's Auckland War Memorial Museum online cenotaph.