April 10, 2018
Chalk kiwi reminder of forgotten history
The question of why a giant kiwi is carved into the chalk of England's Sailsbury Plain has been answered in a book to be launched by Manurewa MP Louisa Wall.
Constituent Colleen Brown wrote the story of the Bulford kiwi after trying to find out why her great grand uncle died of influenza in a transit camp in England after the end of World War I.
She discovered more than 6000 troops had been held at Sling Camp waiting to return to New Zealand.
The camp was only built for 4000, and when the promised transport ships failed to arrive the troops rioted for two days to protest the conditions.
"What they ended up doing was focusing on building this massive kiwi into this hillside so that it would keep the focus up on who we were, what we were there for, and to occupy us as we waited to journey back to Aotearoa New Zealand," Ms Wall says.
Copyright © 2018, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com