Those who worked our land were at the forefront of Annie Baxter’s mind when she delivered her speech at the Enfield Presbyterian Church Anzac service yesterday morning.
She quoted the words of Bill MacPherson, son of Totara Estate farm manager John MacPherson.
"Then when 1914 came, most of the men at the station rushed to get to war.
"They volunteered right away.
"It was more the experience and novelty and to get away from farming.
"When the casualty list came out, nearly everyone from our district had been killed."
It was a very human thing to get caught up in the sense of adventure but the reality was tragic, Mrs Baxter said.
Working men left their families and thought they would be home by Christmas.
Many thought it would be a way to connect with where their parents had come from.
When it came time to sign up, the war was "a chance to actually get to England, get to Europe and see what their parents had come from".
It also seemed to be a chance to meet extended family members such as cousins.
"There was a sense of adventure and comradeship.
"It’s terrible."
The roll of honour was read for all those from Airedale, Weston, Ardgowan, Windsor, Kia Ora, Enfield and Ngapara.
"These men who fell, they were on our farms," Mrs Baxter said.
It had been almost 110 years since the landing at Anzac Cove, which was hard not to mythologise, but it was important to apply the lessons learned to what the world was facing today.
"We need to stick together when trouble comes, and trouble will surely come."
