Selwyn Times: April 22, 2020

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4 Wednesday April 22 2020 Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz SELWYN TIMES DEDICATED: New Zealand Army nursing service sisters on the Western Front in France sometime during 1917-1918. Right – Staff nurse Fanny Abbott of Southbridge seated in a sand cart in Egypt in 1915. Sacrifices made in war remembered THIS TIME of shared national confinement leading up to Anzac Day gives us an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices New Zealanders made during World War 1 between 1914 and 1918. We can get a greater appreciation of the personal loss when we read of the experiences for individual families and the price they paid for service to King and Country. One such example of this is the Abbott family of ‘Clifton,’ Southbridge. The year 1915 proved tragic for the widowed mother, Isabella Abbott, who had four of her adult children serving in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force overseas. By the end of that year, two of her sons serving in the Canterbury Mounted Rifles had lost their lives. Ameral Abbott had died of enteric fever in Egypt in May and George Abbott was killed in action at Gallipoli in August. A third son, Charles, was serving in the Auckland Mounted Rifles at this time but managed to survive the campaigns in Egypt and Palestine. However, that year Mrs Abbott came very close to suffering further loss when her daughter, Fanny, was a passenger on a ship that was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea. Fanny was one of 515 nurses who volunteered for overseas service in the New Zealand Army nursing service during the war, of which 12 were to lose their lives. Nurses proved an integral part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, but their sacrifice has been overshadowed and sometimes forgotten due to the huge loss of lives to our soldiers, sailors and airmen. It was with the sinking of the SS Marquette near Salonika, Greece, on October 23, 1915, that led to the greatest loss of life for the nursing service during the war. Of the 35 nurses of the NZ No.1 Stationary Hospital on board the ship, 10 drowned, including three from Canterbury - Nona Hildyard, Lorna Rattray and Margaret Rogers. Historian and district council staff member Wayne Stack continues his monthly look at Selwyn’s past. Anyone with suggestions for future features can phone Wayne on 021 119 9107. Leading up to Anzac Day this month’s article is about the experience of World War 1 nurse Fanny Abbott who narrowly escaped death after the ship she was in was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea This incident was contentious in that it was argued the staff should have been travelling on the clearly marked British hospital ship, Grantully Castle, which had left Alexandria empty for Salonika the same day as the Marquette. As a result of this incident the New Zealand Government requested the War Office in London to ensure that the subsequent transfer of New Zealand medical staff by sea would be made on designated hospital ships. Three days after the tragedy Fanny wrote home to her mother letting her know she was safe, describing her experience during the sinking. At this stage of the war it was common for letters to families to be published in local papers as a way of providing communities with a greater understanding of the ordeals of overseas service during the war. In January 1916 extracts from her letter were published in the Ellesmere Guardian, and this showed how close Mrs Abbott came to losing a third child in the war: Well, here I am on board this hospital ship (HMHS Grantully Castle), safe and well as can be expected, except for scratches and bruises and a whole bit stiff, but thankful to be alive. We are only allowed to say so much. The ship was torpedoed at 9.05am on October 23. I was in the bathroom and was only partly dressed. There was no mistaking the knock was from anything but a torpedo. Made a wild rush for the cabin for a lifebelt, at which we had had two practices and lucky for us we had each been given one. I did not wait to finish dressing but put on my dress on the way to the cabin. I thought of the ‘Royal Edward’ and the three minutes it took to go down and did not wait to save anything – even my watch and money belt had to be left behind. Most of us were in the water at 9.15. The boats were lowered in a sort of way, but the crews were so panic-stricken that they were absolutely useless. One boat got away safely with Colonel McGavin and about 50 men. The officers who were with us called to the men, “Get out of that boat and play the man,” and they very foolishly got out, but it was too late, the ship went too quickly. I slid down a rope into a boat, along with Popplewell and Rattray, and this boat crashed Our Great history WITH WAYNE STACK DOOMED: The SS Marquette prior to being used as a troop transport ship in 1915. on top of some sisters in the next boat. I jumped into the water and called to the other two to do the same, but they stuck to it, although one end was half under water. I swam out a few yards and caught a floating lifebelt, but could not get far owing to the suction, and I could see the huge keel of the ship towering above me and thought I would never clear it. However, I did get clear and paddled about on my own – thought I was better there than going back. I was just about done after an hour when a RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps) boy caught me by the waist and said: “Here sister, I must save you.” He held me for about half-an-hour, then we struck a raft and to this I held on. We gradually collected a few more drifters and altogether we were about 16. We kept two poor stewards, hauled them on to the rafts and had to let them go about an hour before help arrived. They passed away from exhaustion, poor things. One had a wife and tried to give us a message at the last, but we could not catch it. We were all under water up to our armpits, except the two boys sitting on the raft, who were supporting two sick ones, and they were waistdeep in water, so you can imagine how far the raft was under water. I could not see a sign of any of the other girls and thought they could not possibly have held out, but here we all are, all but 10 of us. Nine of the nurses (myself included) were picked up at 4.40pm by a patrol boat, H.M.S Lynn, and we shall never forget the kindness shown to us. In all 150 survivors were picked up. Of course, we all regret having lost everything, but we are glad so many lives were saved. A good many of the girls had a very bad time – caught hold of boats which turned over and over and kept going under. Three Christchurch girls were lost. It was just like pictures of the Lusitania and Empress of Ireland disasters. The wireless operator was with us and sent out a message, but evidently no one got it. Oh, it was a dreadful time. A feeling came over me that I must let go, but the help I received from a boy – brave lad – and the thought of you gave me renewed strength. We don’t know what we are to do, for we have no hospital and no money, but, as Major Acland says, New Zealand will not see us stuck. Fanny Abbott showed great strength in surviving over seven hours in the water and continued to serve overseas, mostly on hospital ships, until early 1919. She got married in Sydney in 1921. The Nurses’ Memorial Chapel at Christchurch Hospital commemorates the three Christchurch nurses who lost their lives during the sinking of the Marquette. •Our People, page 6
SELWYN TIMES Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz Wednesday April 22 2020 5 News Purrfect adventure for Ockhi • By Devon Bolger OCKHI THE cat loves to join his family on their walks around Rolleston. Amanda and Matt Mulvena take the mostly indoor two-year-old bengal cat walking regularly. Mrs Mulvena said he attracts a lot of attention from the community. “Most people think he is a dog at first until they look again. He usually gets lots of pats too which he loves, not at the moment with the lockdown though,” she said. Ockhi is usually taken to Halswell Quarry or the beach but has had to settle for closer to home over the last month. “He has also come with us on road trips down to Central Otago to visit our family.” ADVENTURE: Ochki the cat regularly accompanies Matt Mulvena of Rolleston on a walk. Have your say on Annual Plan Permits required to light open-air fires •From page 1 All of Selwyn is currently in a restricted fire season, meaning a permit is required to light a fire in open air. The FENZ spokesman said •From page 1 The district council had proposed allocating funds to provide for commercial property investment in the town centre. The consultation document for the district’s Annual Plan has been approved and will be released today for the public to have their say. Said Mayor Sam Broughton: “In this new environment our focus will change and some of the projects we previously saw as priorities will now be less important. “So I encourage people to give us feedback through the Annual Plan on how the council can best contribute to recovery,” he said. Residents can also have their say on a rates freeze or lower increase for the next financial year to mitigate the financial impacts of Covid-19. Options include next year’s rates being held at the same level as they are now or an increase between zero and 3.5 per cent. Residents were expecting an average 3.5 per cent increase in rates. The district council may also approve an economic recovery package to further help struggling ratepayers at a meeting today. The options being considered include: •Extending rates payment for the 2019/20 financial year, due in June and September, until June they are asking the public not to seek a permit unless they have to. “Generally we are only issuing permits for things like agricultural burn-offs and biosecurity burns. Sam Broughton One beer to many? THIS BEAR was spotted sound asleep among some unwanted furniture in a subdivision under construction in Lincoln on Wednesday. Also noted was the empty beer bottle, maybe a reason the bear was having a snooze, as hibernation is traditionally still some weeks away. Possibly, the bear had been frequenting this property not far away from his snoozing place, where the driveway and adjacent walkway have become gathering points for neighbourhood drinks and convivial conversation during lockdown. Social distancing rules have been strictly observed, Selwyn Times has been told. 2021 for ratepayers that enter into a direct debit payment plan. •Businesses that have received the wage subsidy and ratepayers who have lost their jobs or lost 20 per cent or more of their income from all sources could be eligible for a twoyear deferral on payments. Consultation on the draft Annual Plan will close on May 22. •The consultation document and submission process will be available online from today at selwyn. govt.nz “Our advice to people is not to burn right now unless they really have to because volunteer firefighters have to leave their bubbles if it is an emergency,” the spokesman said. ECOSYSTEM: The St Bernard’s wetland near the Cass township is getting funding from the Selwyn-Waihora Zone committee. Funding to help high country wetland project AN UNTOUCHED piece of land in the district’s high country is being protected due to funding from the Selwyn-Waihora zone committee. St Bernard’s wetland is a 6ha area of mixedecosystem native wetland vegetation near the township of Cass. Earlier this year, contractors conducted spraying to kill invasive species that were beginning to encroach on the wetland. The weed control project is funded by an Immediate Steps grant approved by the zone committee. The surrounding land is owned by Canterbury University which leases it to nearby Cass Station for farming. Due to its location and a confusion over whether it was part of Ellen Williamson the lease, the wetland was never drained or farmed and is now one of the few remnants of highcountry wetland in the area. Environment Canterbury biodiversity adviser for the Selwyn-Waihora zone Ellen Williamson says the project has a biodiversity found in few parts of Canterbury’s highland. “It’s an area with very important ecological and cultural values,” she says. “It also aligns with the criteria for Immediate Steps and our zone implementation programme addendum, and is a priority area under our zone’s action plan.” The funding application was a joint project between ECan, the University of Canterbury and KiwiRail, which owns some land on the wetland margin. PHOTOS: BARRY CLARKE
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Selwyn Times: April 22, 2020

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