World War War Centenary Resources

Soldiers' Pool, Hutt River 

As well as being allocated one hot shower a week, soldiers at Trentham camp were also required to attend “bathing parade” in the Hutt River every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. The spot on the river where they did so subsequently became known as “Soldiers’ Pool”, a name it retained even after the War.

 

Soldiers Pool was around 2 km from Trentham camp. To get there the men marched four-abreast, across the railway track and main road, through paddocks, and over creeks, led by a drummer and sometimes even accompanied by bagpipes. When they reached the river most of the soldiers would shed all their clothing and immerse themselves in the water. It was not compulsory to do so, however, and some limited themselves to simply having a wash. Everyone, though, was required to bathe their feet, this being regarded as a hygienic necessity for men undertaking so much marching. There could be up to 2,500 men in the water at once and the noise from this was reported to be “astonishing”. Some men would line up to make use of a conveniently placed rock as a diving platform, while others were assigned duties as lifeguards.  

 

Given the Hutt River’s proximity to Trentham, it was also often made use of for other military purposes. For instance, the Mounted Rifles stationed at the camp would regularly take their horses there to be watered.  Men training to be sappers in the New Zealand Engineers Corps also spent considerable time at the river down by Silverstream learning how to construct pontoon bridges.

 

Further information

“Sylvan Soldiers; Bathing Parade in the River”, Auckland Star, 10 December 1915

“Bathing Parade” in Historic Trentham by Will Lawson (1917)

Working party of Engineers building a pontoon bridge at Trentham