Story: Oneone – soils
Whanganui mayor Hope Gibbons places soil from Belgium at a memorial to Māori soldiers killed in the First World War, on 25 April 1925. The soil was put in a corner post labelled ‘Belgium’; the other three posts contained soil from other countries where battles took place. As it came from the places where the soldiers died, this soil would have been, in a sense, sacred.
About this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, Tesla Studios Collection (PAColl-3046)
Reference: 1/1-017366; G
Photograph by Frank J. Denton
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.