Our military heritage

Memorials throughout the Selwyn District mark our people’s involvement in the various wars of the 20th century. The New Zealand Army with its South Island base at Burnham has also been part of our neighbourhood for around a century.

Burnham pride
A few kilometres south of Rolleston is Burnham Military Camp (BMC), home to the largest New Zealand Army base in the South Island. For around 100 years, distinguished units like the Canterbury Regiment have been stationed there and tens of thousands of army recruits have passed through the camp during their training.
Some 1300 people work at the base, so BMC is pretty much Burnham the town – and very much a civil defence, as well as a military, resource. This was emphatically shown during the Canterbury earthquakes, when Burnham’s army units played an essential part in search and rescue, as well as providing food, shelter and support for thousands affected.

During the 2019 mosque shootings crisis, BMC housed hundreds of police and first responders specially brought in. They also provided people and equipment to assist people affected by the 2021 floods.

Accompaniment to war
This drum was purchased in 1911, the year when the Band of the Canterbury Regiment was formed. It was played by Canterbury military bandsmen in both World War I (1914–18) and World War II (1939–45).
The battle honours inscribed on it record all the campaigns where the bands’ units went into action. Band music was a crucial part of ceremonies like parades, religious services and funerals, as well as boosting troops’ morale in these conflicts.

Band musicians were specially recruited. In World War I, they also served in front-line work like stretcher-bearing. But difficulty in replacing casualties led to them being given duties away from the front.
The drum is from The Regimental History Centre in Burnham – the most significant military collection in the South Island.

Marvellous military medal collection
Alan Polaschek (1933–2021) became fascinated by military medals early in his 30-year service with the New Zealand Army. He began collecting medals in 1959, launching a lifelong passion for researching and writing about military history and heritage.

Alan also became expert at mounting and refurbishing medals for their owners. He witnessed the growing interest of families in preserving these treasured reminders of their relatives’ war service. The lead-up to Anzac Day was always his busiest time for this work, he said. The medals on display at Te Ara Ātea are a small sample from Alan’s collection, which he donated to The Regimental History Centre. You can see them there, housed in the historic Detention Centre building at Burnham Military Camp.