A recent addition to Owaka museum's war exhibits is a homecoming of sorts.
The German 170mm Minenwerfer, or ''moaning Minnie'' trench mortar used throughout World War 1 was a long-term loan from the antique arms dealers association, the museum's curator, Gael Ramsay, said.
In 1920, a collection of trophies, taken from the Western Front, were brought to what was then Bruce County for distribution.
Among them were four of the medium-sized, short-barrelled mortars, including this one.
It had been moved to outside the Owaka Memorial Community Centre in 1968, but over the years it began to deteriorate so much so that when fund-raising was under way for the new community centre, during a scrap metal drive it was sold and shipped off to a Dunedin scrapyard.
However, it was recovered and restored by the antique arms dealers association, Mrs Ramsay said.
Then, Mr Burgess became involved and was ''instrumental'' in bringing the World War 1 relic back to Owaka, Mrs Ramsay said.
''It's good to have it back here,'' she said.
''There are lots of reminiscences about it. People remember it as children and, of course, they think of it as much bigger.
''When you're a child something seems massive, when you're an adult it doesn't seem quite so big.''
The mortar weighs 635kg with its wheels on and of the 17 men who would have been assigned to it, four would have been used to transport it short distances.
Once in place, the wheels were removed.
It had a range of up to 1800m and was used by German forces to destroy bunkers and field fortifications.
