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World War 1 Resources
Troops marching down Main Street, 1915
New recruits on training marches were a common sight around Upper Hutt after the establishment of Trentham Camp in 1914. This particular photograph of soldiers marching down Main Street was taken during the first of the famous marches over the Rimutakas, October 30th, 1915. These marches became established as the culminating event of infantry training in Featherston (or, in this case, Tauherenikau). Troops would march over the Rimutaka Range, spending a night at Kaitoke and then at Maymorn, before arriving at Trentham for final preparations before embarking overseas.
In this photograph the troops are on the last leg of their journey down Main Road, Upper Hutt. They are passing through the middle of town, past the Post Office (the two-storey brick building in the centre of the picture) and the Town Hall (the wooden building with the balcony to the right of it) through the centre of town, past the Post Office (the two-storey brick building in the centre of the picture) and the Town Hall (the wooden building with the balcony to its left). The street that can be glimpsed heading off to the right between the Post office and the vacant lot was then known as Station Street but is now part of Geange Street. The Post Office bulding seen here was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with another. That building is currently (August 2014) occupied by Vogue Woman. The Town Hall next door was also subsequently demolished and is now the Mayfair Building.
Main Street; troops marching back from Maymorn to Trentham [P5-71-773]. Upper Hutt Public Library Collection. Photographer: C. Allen
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Troops On Main Street, 1915. Bystanders watch as troops march through Upper Hutt on their way to Trentham Camp. Note the glimpse of a barber shop, with its tell-tale painted pole, at left, and the horse and cart in front of the Post Office at centre.