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More poppies for street names

As children walk to school and adults rush to work or appointments, it is easy to forget that some of the streets they travel are named for people whose contribution to their fellow man can only be described as heroic.

On Monday (May 25), there will be a dedication of four such streets in Havelock North that have each been marked with a red poppy. Descendants of the men they are named for will gather with representatives of the RSA, Hastings District Council, the community and Lucknow School, the latter bounded by the four streets, to acknowledge their deeds. All four men had been awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest Commonwealth award for bravery in war in peacekeeping, in one case twice.

The streets and the men are:

Elliott Crescent – for VC winner Keith Elliott
Upham Street – for double VC winner Charles Hazlitt Upham
Ngarimu Street – for VC winner Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu
Crichton Place – for VC winner James Crichton

The ceremony will start at 10am, at the intersection of Upham St and Elliott Cres, nearest Te Aute Rd.

The mens’ citations (abbreviated) are:

Keith Elliott – with only a few other men he overran five enemy posts, one single-handedly, and they captured around 130 prisoners. After the war he became an Anglican Minister. He stayed in touch with the men from his command and reminisced about the war with his best friend and battle-mate Jim Lancaster at Hastings RSA, but rarely talked about it with others.

Charles Hazlitt Upham – was the only combat soldier in WWII who won the VC twice, showing outstanding leadership, tactical skill and bravery. After the war the people of Christchurch raised him money to buy a farm, but he refused and the money went to scholarships for servicemen’s sons instead.

James Crichton – in WWI he gave up his Warrant Officer rank as a baker to transfer to the infantry as a private. When his platoon was cut off and under heavy fire Crichton voluntarily swam a river and crossed open ground three times while wounded and under enemy fire and defused a bomb that was attached to a vital bridge.

Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu – from the East Coast and educated at Te Aute College in Hawke’s Bay, he was the first Māori in the New Zealand Army to win a VC. He commanded a platoon, took out machine guns, refused to leave when wounded and when the bullets ran out kept the enemy at bay with stones. Scholarships have been set up in the name of him and the 28th Māori Battalion.

For more information on this national project see poppyplaces.nz 

To advise council of other potential street names worthy of the poppy symbol email poppyplaces@hdc.govt.nz or phone Hastings District Council on 871 5000.

4 October 2017

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