Ex-pat Kiwis march in the London Lord Mayor’s Show
In November 1914 the annual London Lord Mayor’s Show took on a very military flavour, with thousands of troops from Britain and her allies marching through the streets. They included a group of 150 New Zealanders, part of a contingent of 200 who were living in Britain when war was declared.
As this tiny fragment of film from 1914 shows, the New Zealanders were still wearing the ‘slouch’ hat with the upturned brim which New Zealanders had worn in the South African War. Later in the war this would be replaced by the peaked ‘lemon squeezer’.
Ex-pat Kiwis march in the London Lord Mayor’s Show
In November 1914 the annual London Lord Mayor’s Show took on a very military flavour, with thousands of troops from Britain and her allies marching through the streets. They included a group of 150 New Zealanders, part of a contingent of 200 who were living in Britain when war was declared.
As this tiny fragment of film from 1914 shows, the New Zealanders were still wearing the ‘slouch’ hat with the upturned brim which New Zealanders had worn in the South African War. Later in the war this would be replaced by the peaked ‘lemon squeezer’.
Year: 1914
Length: 00:12
Production Company: Gaumont
Credits: Gaumont Graphic
Source: Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Catalogue Reference: F194541 [NEW ZEALAND INFANTRY] 1914
Location: London, England
The Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was still at sea on the way to the war when the London Lord Mayor’s Show took place in November 1914. In that year this annual parade, full of pomp and ceremony and dating from the 12th century, featured thousands of troops from Britain and her allies. They included 150 New Zealanders who were living in Britain when war was declared.
Kiwi ex-pats in Britain were quick to sign up for the war. Many of them were university students who had gone to England and Scotland for medical training and other higher education. About 200 of these “Anglo-New Zealanders”, as the press called them, were formed into a contingent and began training at Bulford Camp in Wiltshire.
The New Zealand detachment was led by Captain Wright and Captain Donald Simson (a veteran of the South African War.) The men wore wide-brimmed hats with one upturned side, and red shoulder bands with “New Zealand” on them.
Newspapers back home proudly reported that their appearance was accompanied by, “a suppressed chanting of a Maori haka, and this instantly attracted the passers-by and the travellers on the bus-top, all of whom showed lively and surprised interest.” (Otago Daily Times, 29 December 1914, p.5)
New Zealanders in the London crowd were excited to see their countrymen, and one wrote to the Otago Daily Times that he had called out a greeting in Māori to the soldiers; “Tēnā koe! Kia kaha Niu Tireni!” (Hello! Be strong New Zealand!) He was surprised to hear another voice in the crowd respond, “Ake, ake, ake!” (Forever and ever!) (ibid).
The correspondent added that a Londoner next to him asked what language they were speaking and when he replied that it was Māori, she commented “Dear, dear, what a pity the English Government don’t arrange to teach the New Zealanders English, especially as they are such a fine, smart-looking lot of men” (ibid).