Each ANZAC Day, New Zealand pauses to remember those who served, those who suffered, and those who did not return.
For Lodge Tawhiri No. 166, that remembrance is also part of our own history.
Tawhiri was less than five years old when the First World War began in August 1914. Thirteen of our brethren served during the conflict. Four did not return.
Bro Arthur Richard Haybittle
Killed in action at Gallipoli, 13 August 1915
Bro John McKinnon
Killed in action, 15 September 1916
Bro John French
Killed in action, 1 October 1916
Bro William John Pritchard Guiness
Died of wounds, 17 November 1916
Their loss was felt by a young Lodge whose members knew these men not simply as names on a memorial, but as brethren.
A generation later, war again reached into Tawhiri. Members of the Lodge served in the Army, Navy and Air Force, both in New Zealand and overseas. Two more Tawhiri brethren lost their lives while serving with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Bro Leslie Wright
Killed during flying training, 11 December 1940
Bro Alexander George Herbert
Killed on operations, 12 August 1941
Their stories, too, remained part of the Lodge.
After the First World War, Tawhiri arranged for memorial trees to be planted at Kowhai Memorial Park in remembrance of brethren who had fallen.
Following the Second World War, remembrance took another form. Bros Leslie Wright and Alexander Herbert had been close friends, and when Tawhiri's Kent Street lodge rooms were rebuilt after the 1948 Hamilton tornado, memorial chairs associated with the two young men were placed beside one another. The Lodge's records explain that their closeness in the lodge room was intended to reflect the friendship they had shared in life.
It is one of the more personal details preserved in Tawhiri's history.
The six men we remember today were not simply names entered into old Minute Books. They were members of this Lodge. They shared its fellowship, knew its brethren, and became part of the story handed down to those who came after them.
This ANZAC Day, we remember them by name.
Bro Arthur Richard Haybittle
Bro John McKinnon
Bro John French
Bro William John Pritchard Guiness
Bro Leslie Wright
Bro Alexander George Herbert
We will remember them.