More places getting the poppies
More places getting the poppies
Hastings is leading the charge nationwide in the drive to help ensure our military history is not forgotten.
At a ceremony this morning (December 16) the addition of nine poppies on street signs was celebrated. Poppy Places is a national project identifying the streets and land marks which have been named to recognise the contribution of New Zealand to international conflicts.
The nine new streets in the Mayfair suburb are: Jellicoe St, Beatty St and Beatty Pl, Hood St, Anson St, Cunningham Cres, Norfolk Cr, Sussex St and Haig St.
Eight of the streets are linked by a common maritime theme – all being named for admirals or battleships. About 7000 New Zealand officers and ratings served with the Royal Navy for varying periods during World War II, hence the naming of the streets and the addition of the poppies. The ninth, Haig St, is named for Field Marshall Douglas Haig, a New Zealander who became a key leader in the British and Commonwealth forces in World War I.
Friday’s commemoration, hosted by Hastings District Council and the RSA, brought the places in Hastings marked with a poppy to 18.
Children from Mayfair School attended, with four of them reading out the stories behind two of the names they had researched.
Poppy Places Trust representative Joe Bolton, based in Lower Hutt, said so far there were about 100 streets across New Zealand that had been researched and adorned with a poppy. “Hastings by far leads the project with the number of streets it has completed. We use Hastings District Council as an example to the rest of the country on how it can be done.”
He envisaged that there would be about 3000 streets named for returned service men and women and the vessels they had served on.
The plan is to add a QR code on the posts under the street sign so people can scan the code to get the story behind the name.
The names behind the new streets:
Jellicoe Street
Jellicoe Street was named for Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe in 1916. He helped design the battlecruiser HMS Dreadnought and in World War I commanded the Grand Fleet (1914-1916).
Beatty Street and Beatty Place
Beatty Street and Beatty Place were named for Admiral Beatty, Admiral of the Fleet in WWI.
Hood Street
Hood Street was named for Rear-Admiral Sir Horace Lambert Alexander Hood who served with Beatty and in at the Battle of Jutland in WWI. He was killed during that battle when the HMS Invincible was sunk.
Anson Street
Anson Street was named for HMS Anson, one of the battleships assigned to the Pacific Fleet.
Cunningham Crescent
Cunningham Crescent was named for Admiral Andrew Cunningham who served in the Boer War, WWI and WWII, becoming Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet.
Norfolk Crescent
Norfolk Crescent was named for the HMS Norfolk, part of the fleet that sank the Bismarck and was one of the major combatant ships of the Royal Navy. Lieutenant R.S. McNaught, RNZNVR, who was born in Hastings, was one of the New Zealanders who served on the HMS Norfolk.
Sussex Street
Sussex Street was named for the fourth HMS Sussex, a major combat ships in the Royal Navy in 1939. The ship played an important role in WWII and the surrender of the Japanese forces in Singapore was accepted on board the HMS Sussex.
Haig Street
Haig Street used to be part of Park Terrace and was renamed in 1922 for Field Marshall Douglas Haig, one of the key leaders of the British and Commonwealth forces in World War I. One of his enduring legacies was setting up the Haig Fund to help servicemen who were either financially hard up or incapacitated due to being wounded, which eventually became the Poppy appeal.
ENDS