ANZAC Tribute: The Ancient Yew Tree

Yew trees have a special place in history involving myth, legend and religion, stemming it seems, from the trees’ longevity because of the ability of its drooping branches to take root among the duff and rejuvenate the tree. Always safe from browsing because of the toxicity of its foliage.

Some one hundred years before William the Conqueror arrived on the coast of England, the poisonous seed of a Yew tree germinated in nature’s random way, most likely after passing through the gut of a blackbird. The blackbird would have enjoyed its feast of the juicy, red berry, unmindful of it’s a role in nature. Only a small percentage of the seed germinate, and a smaller percentage eventually grow into trees.

Christians have worshiped at the site since AD 737, perhaps because they found the Yew tree sapling thriving there and it represented an omen.

The Yew tree was unmoved by the arrival of William and his army and it grew on through crisis and good times for over one thousand years and it stands today in the consecrated grounds of Saint Nicholas Church at Brockenhurst.

The Saint Nicholas Yew tree is no beauty compared to some of the other magnificent trees within the New Forest district, but it is nevertheless a ‘beauty tree’. Beauty: colloquial New Zealand for great, wonderful. 

This is because the Saint Nicholas Yew tree stands vigil over a World War I cemetery of 106 graves, of which one hundred are in the New Zealand plot. In addition to the 93 New Zealand graves, there are three Indian and three unidentified Belgian civilians, workers from the Sopley Forestry Camp.

These are the graves of wounded or sick soldiers who had been transferred to the No.1 New Zealand General Hospital at Brockenhurst, but were not able to be saved.

Brockenhurst was chosen in 1915 by the War Office to become a hospital centre because of its proximity to Southampton and the railway line.

Initially, Lady Hardinge's Hospital for the Indian troops from the Lahore and Meerut Divisions was established south of the village. This was later replaced by No.1 New Zealand General Hospital in June 1916, when the Indian Divisions were replaced by ANZAC troops. The No.1 New Zealand General Hospital remained at Brockenhurst until it closed early 1919.

On 17^th December 1918 the Otago Daily Times reported with some enthusiasm about the evacuation from Brockenhurst Hospital of 250 men who were fit for travel, and would join another 260 men from Walton-on-Thames Hospital to be repatriated back to New Zealand.

The train departed the Brockenhurst station precisely on time – 10:20 am.

The article went on: From its opening until 26 September 1918 (when the reported visited) No.1 New Zealand General Hospital, Brockenhurst had admitted 19 599 patients with the loss of 79.

Listed in detail were the various categories of rank and the location their wounding or sickness happened.

Our image of World War I is one of black and white, mud, trenches, blasts, gunfire, gas and broken or dead men – also white crosses.

Any war, ancient or modern means the flowing blood, unthinkable wounding, horrible premature death, deafening noise, smell and the witnessing of those unforgettable events. Not forgetting the protracted mental anguish.

ANZAC Day 25 April 2015 commemorates 100 years since the Gallipoli landings and the slaughter that ensued. That date each year New Zealand and Australia remembers the fallen of all conflicts where their soldiers fought.

The machine that is war, comprises not only soldiers, nor the doctors and nurses, who were forever scarred by their experience, nor the stretcher bearers who dragged the wounded from the front, experiencing mortal danger.

The local people like those of Brockenhurst played their part, undoubtedly contributed to the running of the hospital, thereby nurturing the wounded.

So many contribute to the machinery of war, from the growers of food to the manufacturers of munitions, the families of lost soldiers and other participants should never be forgotten for theirs was a sacrifice too.

During World War I news reached New Zealand slowly, the reporting of the killed in action and the wounded seemed emotionless. Families faced the raw reality as best they could.

The Saint Nicholas Yew tree maintains its vigil, perhaps a hopeful omen that peace will reign.

So, this one hundredth ANZAC Day, 25 April 2015, let us remember them all.

- By wearing a Poppy.

- By standing when the words are spoken from Laurence Binyon’s Ode of Remembrance:

‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We shall remember them.’

Remain standing as the lone bugler plays The Last Post.