Julie Richards: Threads of Memory (2015)

DateApril 2015DescriptionIn 2015 Julie Richards came in to the Tauranga City Libraries to remember her great grandfather Reginald Secker, as part of the Threads of Memory project. Threads of Memory was one of the First World War Centenary activities of the library.

Reginald enlisted in 1915, aged 31. He volunteered for the 4"' Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment in St Ives, Cambridgeshire.

There has been some confusion about which battle he died in. The monument in his town of St Ives, in England, lists his death in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. We now know that to be an error, and that he in fact died in the Battle of Arras. There were no remains, as must have been the case for many who went to WW1. Nothing of them returned. He is however commemorated by a plaque at the Arras memorial in Pas De Calais, France. His date of death is listed as 29"' April, 1917. What happened after that? My grandfather, who must have been about 8 or 9 at the time of his father's death, did once speak of the 'cable or telegram' that arrived when his mother answered the door, telling of his father's death, and of the emotion and shock.

Even though my great grandfather was British, there is a curious connection between him and New Zealand, in that the tunnel of Arras was dug by New Zealanders miners, and it is very possible that he benefitted from underground shelter the New Zealanders provided. Reginald may have taken some comfort in the fact that, after his death, his small family would also find refuge and a new life in the same country of these strong and skillful people.

Photographs

Threads of Memory 2015 - Julie Richards (31)

Threads of Memory 2015 - Julie Richards (18)

Threads of Memory 2015 - Julie Richards (20)

Threads of Memory 2015 - Julie Richards (3)

Threads of Memory 2015: Julie Richards

Threads of Memory 2015 - Julie Richards (30)

Julie Richards in 2015

Stories - People

Reginald Secker Snr (1884-1917)

Julie Richards: Threads of Memory (2015)

Location

LocationTauranga City Library

Usage

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Julie Richards: Threads of Memory (2015)