1919: Bulford Kiwi
March 15, 2021
By AHNZ
Today in history, 15 March, 1919, the Great Wrong War was over but our men sent to die for it were penned up in South-West England like sheep. So, today, they rioted.
A military prison, really. No way home to New Zealand and no opportunity to leave the camp to see the Old Country they had been enslaved/conscripted to defend. They were given pointless busy work to perform, parading, uniform codes to abide, mass deaths thanks to the Influenza Pandemic, and broken promises.
State history, ‘nice’ history, records the Bulford Kiwi as being chalk art created by the New Zealanders as a remembrance of home and a gift to the people of England. This is bullshit of course. The prisoners rioted against their captivity. The State lied and promised if the inmates would back down there would be no repercussions. Instead, the leaders were arrested and demoted and sentenced to hard labor in jail!
A “most serious breakdown of discipline,” the State history webpage calls it. The quashed inmates were returned to their ‘heroes reward’ and in addition set the detail of scratching out a big chalk kiwi in the hillside. Another monument to Statism, I’m afraid.
The post-WW1 New Zealand soldier ‘prison camp’ was punished for wanting to come home by being made to create a giant chalk kiwi.
“In the most serious breakdown of discipline in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the European theatre, hundreds of men rioted at Sling Camp on Salisbury Plain.” – New Zealand troops riot in England, NZHistory.gov
“Since 2007 it has been maintained by the Ministry of Defence. Somehow the chalk kiwi’s shape has changed for the worse over time. “- NZH&H
I believe the turf needs to keep being cut back so the chalk isn’t covered up once again. In the hands of the State this monument has started to look more and more retarded over time. Just like everything else they touch.
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Image ref. Bulford Camp postcard, Christchurch City Libraries
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