The story of Stuart Mirfin’s uncle Mel who survived a torpedo that sunk his ship and a Zeppelin airship bombing the hospital where he worked, is just one the many family stories shared on Summerset Richmond Ranges’ Anzac Wall of Remembrance.
Melville (Mel) Mirfin was a former Nelson College student who enlisted as a medic the day World War 1 was declared in 1914 and returned nearly five years later when the war was over.
He was chosen as New Zealand Post’s soldier for its 2014 commemorative stamps to mark 100 years since the beginning of World War 1, along with one of his postcards sent home from the war and a photo of the family outside its house in Ikamatua on the West Coast.
“They were looking for a soldier who had served for a long time and Uncle Mel was one of the longest-serving soldiers,” Stuart says.
“He was on a ship called Marquette which was marked as a hospital ship, but the Germans had heard about it (carrying munitions) and torpedoed it. Mel saved a fair few lives because he was a good swimmer. But 167 lost their lives, including 10 New Zealand nurses.”
Those rescued set up a hospital in Salonica in Greece, which was then bombed by a Zeppelin airship. He later helped set up a stationary hospital on the Western Front and at the end of the war helped expatriate New Zealand soldiers in London, before returning home to his job at the bank.
“The bank paid his wages for the entire five years.”
Stuart says Mel was one of four brothers who headed overseas to the war, along with his father Ashton (Ash), and all four brothers returned home.
“They all had different stories.”
His Uncle Stan found a dying German soldier in a shell hole and gave him water, while his father, Ash, had a brush with death on the train shortly after reaching England.
“Two soldiers from each carriage were chosen to get off the train to get food for the men when it stopped. But the first soldiers to step outside the carriages were killed by a passing train in front of those like Ash who were about to follow.”
Stuart and his wife Sherry have visited the site where those 10 soldiers so tragically lost their lives, along with other sites in Europe where family fought during the war. In some places, woods now 100 years old grow where battles took place and so many lost their lives.
The Anzac Wall of Remembrance at the retirement village goes beyond Anzac stories and includes family memorabilia from about 20 residents. Among the memories is a wooden carving that was carved by candlelight in Holland during blackouts.
Bright red poppies made by the memory care centre decorate the display which includes photos, postcards and the stories that have been told within families.
Residents’ chairperson Linda Bergman says the display is an opportunity for families to remember their own people who have fallen or experienced war.
“It’s very humbling when you know what people did on our behalf when they were only young men and women.
“Many of the residents here had parents who went to war.”
