Ā mātou kōrero – Our stories New white crosses on Nurses’ Memorial Chapel lawn for Anzac Day For the first time, this Anzac Day the Nurses’ Memorial Chapel lawn will display 10 white crosses to commemorate all the South Island nurses whose tragic wartime death at sea sparked the chapel’s construction. Previously it had just three, for the Christchurchtrained nurses Nona Hildyard, Margaret Rogers and Lorna Rattray. They were among those who died in October 1915 when the troopship Marquette was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the Aegean Sea during World War I. The chapel on the grounds of Christchurch Hospital was built in 1927 to honour them all. The new white crosses, and refurbishing of the existing three, was carried out by members of the Akaroa Men’s Shed in Duvauchelle following a request from President of the Nurses’ Memorial Chapel Pip Mason.
Friends of the Nurses’ Memorial Chapel Secretary Cheryl English with the white crosses erected on the chapel’s lawn for Anzac Day
“We were more than happy to oblige. This was a perfect community project for us and we were delighted to offer our services and materials free of charge to remember those nurses who perished,” says Akaroa Men’s Shed Chairman Howard Wilson. The Men’s Shed donated all the materials and their time and engraved the names of the nurses on the new crosses. The white crosses project started in 2014 with RSAs throughout the country displaying white crosses during the week of Anzac Day to commemorate local personnel who died during the first world war.
The 10 crosses on the chapel lawn
Pip says it feels great to have all the nurses who died in the sinking of the Marquette represented on the lawn for the first time this Anzac Day. “We are absolutely delighted and extremely grateful. The Akaroa Men’s Shed members have done a superb job, the crosses look amazing, and will last forever.” The crosses were placed on the chapel lawn on 21 April and will remain in place until a few days after Anzac Day. The chapel is open from 1-4pm for visitors to lay a poppy in the poppy bowl. Inside the Nurses’ Memorial Chapel with this year’s Anzac display
24 April 2023
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