N E W S
21
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www.engineeringnews.co.nz
REN320
versity. A member of the Civil Service
Rifles in Christchurch, he was listed
as a civil engineer when he enlisted
in 1917 and was in the NZ Engineers
Tunnelling Company sent to Europe
in April 1917.
Victor was a “nice joker” who
“smoked like a chimney,” according
to historian Dr James Ng’s research
Windows on a Chinese Past, vol 3, p.
349.. As a member of the New Zealand
Engineers Tunnelling Corps, Victor
was attached to the Third Army,
which defended Arras during the
German Spring offensive and then
fought in the Second Battle of the
Marne in July 1918. He was hospitalised
with influenza towards the end
of 1918.
While Victor was in the Army Education
Unit as a sergeant, restless New
Zealand troops who’d been kept waiting
months to board a ship for the sixweek
voyage home, rioted at Sling
Camp on 14 and 15 March 1919.
The idea of constructing a lasting
memento of the New Zealanders’ occupation
of Sling Camp was raised.
After the riots, the British Army permitted
the construction of a kiwi on
military land on nearby Beacon Hill.
The work was intended to keep soldiers
occupied while they waited to
go home.
Victor is the soldier who mapped out
the iconic chalk kiwi on Salisbury
Plain in 1919, surveying the shape on
a steep hill, which meant working out
the carved proportions to gain the
right perspective for the viewer.
According to historian Colleen Brown:
“It was a difficult job, as the hill had a
10-degree slope and there was an irregularity
in the centre. The chalky soil was
similar to that at Arras, with which Victor
was familiar.
“Once he was certain he had it absolutely
correct, the soldiers cut the kiwi by
hand ... The soil was dug out to a depth
of 30 centimetres, exposing the chalk
beneath. The kiwi is 128 metres long,
with its beak extending 45.7 metres and
the ‘NZ’ letters standing 20 metres high.
The work was completed on 28 June
1919, the day the Treaty of Versailles
with Germany was signed.”
Victor survived the war and later joined
his brother Norman in Shanghai. Sadly,
due to the effects of being gassed in the
Somme, Norman died in his mid-30s,
and was buried in 1921 in Shanghai.
When Victor was demobilised from the
army he travelled to Hong Kong, where
he worked for many years for an architectural
firm. Victor and his wife Emily
left Hong Kong in 1941 shortly before
the Japanese attacked the island,
travelling through China to Chungking
and into India before returning to New
Zealand in 1943. Back in New Zealand,
Victor worked for the Ministry of Works
in Wellington, where he died on 11 May
1953, aged 59.
The ANZAC legacy the ground-breaking
Low brothers left behind lives on. The
giant kiwi carved into a hillside in southern
England has recently been recognised
for its historic significance.
CGT decision strengthens
confidence in tax system
BusinessNZ has congratulated the
Government for its decision not to
proceed with a capital gains tax.
Chief executive Kirk Hope said the
proposed tax would have hit businesses
hard, reducing funds available
for investment and job growth
and increasing their compliance burden.
"Our members have been very clear
that they did not see the justification
for an expensive new tax that would
have reduced the competitiveness of
the New Zealand business sector for
no discernible gain.
"BusinessNZ was appreciative of
being included in the working group
process and commends much of
what is in the report, but in the end
could not support a capital gains tax.
"The Government is to be commended
for listening as New Zealanders made
their views clear.
"It is clear that NZ First has played a
significant role in a capital gains tax not
proceeding, and the business community
will thank them for not compromising
their concerns.
"We feel the process of working group
proposals followed by widespread consultation
has been successful in delivering
a result that the majority of New
Zealanders can support.
"With the Governments decision not
to proceed with a capital gains tax decision,
the benefits of our relatively
broad-based, simple and fair tax system
have been retained, and New Zealanders’
confidence in the tax system
strengthened."
/www.engineeringnews.co.nz