ANZAC display commemorates local efforts
Jane McDonald, Golden Bay Museum manager, beside Bob Papps’s war memorabilia in the ANZAC exhibition.
Golden Bay Museum, in association with the Golden Bay RSA, is mounting a special ANZAC exhibition to commemorate the men and women of this area who served in theatres of conflict.
The exhibition will be open on ANZAC Day after the public ceremony, and the Takaka Citizens’ Band has kindly agreed to lead visitors down the street to the exhibition. Entry is free.
The ANZAC exhibition will become an annual event and each year will feature the contribution that different Golden Bay families have made during the country’s armed conflicts.
This year, the displays feature Stoker Petty Officer Bob Papps, who was present on board the HMNZS Gambia during the signing of the surrender in Tokyo Bay at the end of World War II. Also featured is Gunner Richard Washbourn, who was involved in the pursuit of the Admiral Graf Spee into the estuary of the River Plate, and later became a rear admiral in the Royal NZ Navy. Also in the display are the Newlove family of Takaka, who lost three sons, and the Harvey family of Collingwood who lost four sons in WWI; Flight Lieutenant Hec Shaw of Pakawau, who flew 29 successful missions over France and Germany in Squadron 138, known as the “moon squadron”, dropping agents and supplies behind enemy lines during WWII; and George Woolf and Maui Mitchell, two friends from the Bay who followed a similar path in the New Zealand Army during World War II.
Because the two world wars were only 21 years apart they affected the lives of consecutive generations. In the Bay, Sergeant Ralph Sparrow and his son, LAC Stuart Sparrow, are an example.
There is also a small exhibit featuring the Home Guard, which was established to protect Golden Bay in the event of an invasion. A small map and documents marked “secret” are on display.
The Golden Bay Museum is grateful to local families who have loaned objects and documents from private collections for the exhibition, and it is hoped that people will take the opportunity to view such items not normally available to the public.
Neil Wilson
ANZAC Day services on Saturday 25 April are as follows: Collingwood: Dawn Parade 6.30am (incorrect date printed in The Nelson Mail 12/4). Main Service 11.30am, Memorial Hall. Takaka: Dawn Service 6.30am. Main Service 9.00am, Village Theatre.
