By Helen Pollock writer/ researcher and the New Zealand Military Historical Society
Journal, which first published the article.
My
father, Sapper Bill Young of the NZEF Signallers Corps, survived the Great War
and service in WW2, but died when I was only nine.
I remember my parents
talking about the Great War and sometimes about their friend Don Hosie, when I
was very young (in the fifties). Their conversation might go like this…..
“Don Hosie was very tall
and handsome - it was terrible that he was killed in the Great War….
“Don Hosie was a bit older
than my father and went to the war some months before him and
was killed there.
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Kaikorai Presbyterian
Church and Bible Class c 1912
Left Bill Young (my
father) 3rd left back row Don Hosie
Young Family Collection
|
Left:
Don Hosie before sailing from New Zealand with the 23rd Reinforcements
March 1917 at ‘Canvas Town’, Featherston Camp: Gordon Neill Collection
It is only relatively
recently I read Don Hosie was also an architect and had won a national
competition with his design for the Sargeant Gallery in Whanganui, when he was
only 21.
It is a sad story.
The Sargeant Gallery
website details the story of how Don Hosie’s Dunedin employer Edmund Anscombe,
claimed credit for the winning design, (entry number 16).
An enquiry was held at
the time, by Hurst Seagar, (the adjudicator of the architectural competition
for the design of the Sargeant Gallery), during which the young Don Hosie
refused to testify against his employer: the epitome of what was considered
manly and honourable behaviour at that time.
Don Hosie said he
believed he would have other opportunities after the war.
Behind the scenes Hurst Seager had heard
that the winning design was not in fact by Anscombe, but by his articled pupil,
Donald Hosie, who was only 21 years old. Over a period of a few days there was
much to-ing and fro-ing of telegrams between Hurst Seager and Anscombe in an
attempt to clarify who in fact was the designer of entry number 16, but clarity
did not eventuate.
Anscombe said only that the design had come
from his office.
Seager resolved to visit Dunedin to
interview all parties.
Seager arrived in Dunedin on 25 October and
called together the Otago branch of the
New Zealand Institute of Architects, which
included G W Gough [chair], E W Walden, P Y
Wales and J Barton. Together they conducted
interviews to ascertain the author of design
number 16. The committee duly reported that
they ‘held four meetings and obtained what
evidence was possible under the
circumstances. Owing to the extreme loyalty of Mr Hosie
to his Principal [which we heartily
appreciate] we were unable to obtain from him a clear
statement of facts necessary to make the
enquiry conclusive. Especially do we regret that
Mr Hosie felt compelled to refuse to answer
very important questions relating to matters
of fact before he had had an opportunity of
conferring with his Principal and Lawyer.’
Hosie’s reluctance to state categorically
that he had been the author of the design because
he was an articled pupil, left Hurst Seager
in a difficult position, especially as Anscombe
was eager to be regarded as the architect
for the project.
Seager summarised Hosie’s position thus: ‘his
feelings were that he was a young man and
would have his chance again, and he would rather that
his name was not mentioned at all
and to let Anscombe have the credit. He did
not like to feel that Anscombe should have
a chance of saying that he, Hosie, had not played the game
while a pupil.’
Another complicating factor was that Hosie
had been called up for army training and
service in WWI. Hurst Seager said of Hosie
‘that he is I understand, a fine manly type of
young fellow who is anxious to go to war,
but although all other architects have allowed
their pupils to cancel their indentures, I
understand that Mr Anscombe refused to allow Mr
Hosie to do so.’
The Mayor of Whanganui
intervened (perhaps to solve embarrassment with the Whanganui Council) for Don
Hosie to be held back from going to war until he had completed the working
drawings. Don Hosie completed the drawings before he sailed for Europe in March
14 1917 on the Ruapehu.
His employer Edmund
Anscombe ensured that Anscombe Architects was employed to oversee the
construction the Sargeant Gallery, according to the design of Don Hosie.
Don Hosie became a
corporal in
the Otago Regiment 2
Battalion (23rd Reinforcements), and on March 14 1917, left New
Zealand for the battlefields of Europe.
The foundation stone for
the Sargeant Gallery, was laid in September 1917,
just three weeks
before Don Hosie was killed in action, along with 845 other young New
Zealand men, attempting to cross shell holes of mud and uncut barbed wire, in
the face of unremitting machine gun fire from the Germans positioned on top of
Bellevue Spur, and amongst shells falling from both sides. This was within the first
two hours of the Battle of Passchendaele October 12th 1917.
Corporal Don Hosie aged
22 years, was buried at Passchendaele New British Cemetery on the road to
Passchendaele just past S’Gravenstafl, on Bellevue Spur, very close to where he
fell.
Almost a century later,
on a cold, wet and bleak day, in 2012, I visited his grave. I wondered if any of his family from Otago on
the other side of the world, had ever had the opportunity to visit.
 |
His
name is inscribed on the Kaikorai Primary School Memorial in Dunedin.
|
Don Hosie’s beautiful
architectural drawings for his design of the Sargeant Gallery, can be seen on the
Sargeant Gallery
website.
 |
The design is in the form
of a Greek cross with a central sculpture hall under the dome. The gallery is
constructed from brick faced with Oamaru stone with windows and walls designed
to reduce the amount of direct and reflected light.
In 2012, the Sargeant
Gallery won an Enduring Architecture Award from the New Zealand Institute of
Architects. The jury noted: “The Sargeant Gallery, built to the design of
Donald Hosie, has an outstanding reputation as one of New Zealand s finest
provincial art galleries with an enduring importance in the cultural life of
its city.” It currently undergoing renovations.
The Sarjeant Gallery is
the only architectural work of Don Hosie.
Another poignant end to this story concerns
‘Otago Peninsula Fallen Soldiers Memorial’ high on the ridge of the Otago
Peninsular guarding Otago Harbour. An intimate portrayal of an ordinary WW1
soldier, 3m tall atop a blue stone plinth of approximately 10m tall, stands
against the skyline, astride a prominent rock formation; ‘Arthurs Seat’. The
soldier, wearing a great coat and with a rifle slung over his shoulder,
‘guards’ the entrance to the harbour. It can be seen across Dunedin.
The inscription on the plaque below shows
the names of 52 young men from this small farming community, so remote from the
European battlefields. The inscription includes six sets of brothers!
The memorial unveiled in 1923, was designed
by Dunedin architect Edward Walden, but the figure of the soldier was sculpted
by Robert Hosie, the older brother of Don Hosie.
‘The
Soldiers Memorial’ Otago Peninsular, Dunedin. Design Edward Walden, Sculptor
Robert Hosie
Top
left At the Unveiling of the ‘Soldiers Memorial’ 1923 Photo Otago Daily Times
Top
right and below Photos: Helen Pollock
My
sculpture, ‘Falls the Shadow‘, was
initially installed at the Auckland War Memorial Museum in 2008 for the 92nd
anniversary of the signing of the Armistice.
Falls the Shadow: Auckland War Memorial Museum
2008
Sculptor
Helen Pollock
Photo
Krystof Pfieffer
When
I began making ‘Falls the Shadow’ back in 2007, I wrote to the then Chair of
the Passchendaele Memorial Museum Trust, Freddy DeClerck to ask for clay from
the Battlefield of Passchendaele which I intended to fuse with ‘rough
unprocessed clay’ from New Zealand. He responded to my request for clay with
these words:
“In
fact we have local brickworks and they are digging in the vicinity of the place
where the New Zealand soldiers were waiting in the fields; the
night before the attack of 12/10/1917.
We
have dug the clay out of the ground where the brickworks are now.
On
this(sic) fields have been the Canterbury and Otago soldiers the night before
the attack of 12/10/1917”.
Helen Clark as then New Zealand
Prime Minister, ceremonially received the battlefield clay in Passchendaele and
facilitated its journey back to New Zealand.
As
the young men did in Great War, ‘Falls the Shadow’ eventually made the sea
journey to Europe and in October 2012, was permanently installed in the
Passchendaele. Memorial
Museum.
I
can’t think of anywhere more suited to its purpose.
The sculpture
is dimly lit and, in its little blue/black painted brick room, looks rather
like a battlefield shrine in a bunker.
It
is the last exhibit you see as you leave the museum and it is a peaceful and
hopefully uplifting after all the images of war.
‘Falls the Shadow’ at the
Passchendaele Memorial Museum, Zonnebeke, Flanders.
Sculptor: Helen Pollock
Additional information from the Belgians Have not Forgotten
1. The architect Samuel Hurst Seager was a New Zealanders
from Christchurch New Zealand (born in London/UK). Seager was also the
architect of the Battlefield Memorials in Longueval, Messines and Passchendaele
(about 1.5 km from the grave of Don Hosie).
Our City O-Tautahi, also known as the Old Municipal Chambers in
Christchurch was used in 2009 for the exhibition The Belgians Have not
Forgotten. Also this building was from S Hurst Seager.
2. Don Hosie was missing in action,
believed to be killed in action on 12 October 1917. There was a witness (10 Coy
2Bn Otago Rgt) saying: I saw Hosie at the assembly point on 12 Oct 1917 prior
to the advance on Belle Vue Spur. There was heavy artillery, machine gun fire
and the company suffered heavy casualties. I did not see Hosie again. He did
not come out of the trenches with the company. He has has been buried in a
field grave later on during the war and his body was found in 1920 and brought
over to Passchendaele New British Cemetery.He was found at the blue spot in a
red cross on the map (under D, above 10, East of the Ravebeek) where he was
buried with several other soldiers (also Canadians) during the war. I suppose
he has been buried after the Canadians took Passchendaele (after 10 Nov)
because the area where he was buried was part of the German Flandern Stellung
and has been taken by the Canadians.
|
 |
| Australian
battlefield map, Don Hosie was buried in a field grave on the Flandern I
Stellung, most probably after the Canadians took Passchendaele on Nov
10th 1917. |
We could find this spot thanks to the Burial Return Sheet of the CWGC.
 |
| Burial Return Sheet Don Hosie and other Soldiers. |
|
|
Corporal Donald
Peter Brown Hosie
Unit: NZEF, Otago Regiment, 2
Battalion
Conflict: WW1
Additional Details: Son of Robert and Sarah Hosie,
of "Tauranga," Wairoa St., Roslyn, Dunedin, New Zealand. Born at
Otago
Casualty
·
Service Number:
40951
·
First Name:
Donald Peter Brown
·
Surname:
Hosie
·
Rank:
Corporal
·
Date of Birth: Not
known
·
Next of Kin: R.
Hosie (father), Kirkland Hill, Kaikorai, Dunedin, New Zealand
·
Occupation: Architect
·
Nationality of Force:
New Zealand
·
Force:
Army
Unit: NZEF, Otago Regiment, 2
Battalion
Casualty Details
·
Date of Death:
12 October 1917
·
Age:
22
·
Conflict:
WW1
·
Cause of Death:
Killed in action
Embarkation Details
·
Body of Embarkation:
New Zealand Expeditionary Force
·
Place of Embarkation:
Wellington, New Zealand
·
Embarkation Date: 14
March 1917
·
Transport: HMNZT
79
·
Vessel:
Ruapehu
·
Destination:
Devonport, England
Text in italics
supplied by Cenotaph, Auckland War Memorial
Museum
Cemetery
·
Cemetery Reference: XV.
C. 13.
·
Country:
Belgium
Shortly
after midnight of 3 Oct 1917, the 2nd Wellington Battalion began to assemble,
Taranaki Company (Major Hamilton) and Ruahine Company (Capt. H. F. Boscawen)
moved via St. Julien Road and assembled east of the Hanebeek, while the other
two companies moved along the road past Spree Farm (Roeselare street these days) and assembled in rear of
Schuler Galleries. All were in position by 4 o'clock a.m., with 2nd Battalion
headquarters at Schuler Farm.
The 36 years old miner from Hikurangi, Taranaki was single. He enlisted in November 1916. He was in France
from end of July 1917. The action at
’s Graventafel was probably the first time he saw action. 
Next to Olson Private Wifred
Denham Tunks was buried. Tunks was a student when he enlisted in 1915. 
