RSA – Ninety Years of Service
RSA through 90 years of service to comrades, community and country. Click
on the thumbnails/links or scroll down the page.
Beginnings (1916-22)
Survival (1920s-30s)
RSA at War (1939-45)
Golden Weather (1950s-60s)
Challenges (1960s-80s)
Revival (1990s-2006)
Beginnings (1916-22)
On 15 July 1915 the ship Willochra enters Wellington harbour.
A large crowd waits anxiously alongside ambulances for on board are the
first wounded back from Gallipoli – the first returned soldiers
of WWI. One that disembarks that day is Donald Simson who quickly realises
the need for an association of returned soldiers and is instrumental in
the formation of a number of local associations throughout the country.
Simson calls a national meeting that establishes the New Zealand Returned
Soldiers’ Association on 28 April 1916.
By 1920 national membership has swollen to 57,000 out of a returned soldier
population of 80,000.
NZRSA publishes a vibrant monthly journal Quick March.
The RSA quickly becomes an advocate for veterans as well as providing
its own welfare services with the introduction of Poppy Day in 1922.
At the same time as subscribing to memorials for the dead the public
supports building clubrooms for the living.
The RSA successfully presses for ANZAC Day to be a public holiday in
1921 and develops a uniform service, based on a military funeral, to keep
faith with dead comrades and their grieving families.
Survival (1920s-30s)
The successful rehabilitation of returned soldiers is a double-edged
sword for the fledging RSA. With members no longer requiring its services
national membership drops to below 7,000 by the mid 1920s.
Quick March ceases publication in 1923 and its successor, RSA
Review, is a modest newsletter for many years.
The RSA is led for most of the period by Sir Andrew Russell who had commanded
the New Zealand Division during WWI and believes that an officer’s
duty to his men does not end with the cessation of hostilities.
The re-occurrence of latent war injuries and the impact of the Great
Depression, as well as criticism of WWI from a fledging anti-war movement,
see a revival of the RSA during the 1930s as returned soldiers look upon
it as a valuable support network.
The rise of reunions, ‘smoko’ concerts and Tin Hat Clubs is
testimony to the desire of returned soldiers to renew and celebrate their
unique bonds of comradeship.
By the late 1930s the RSA membership is up to 30,000 and its recovery
is exemplified by 1,400-strong RSA delegation to Sydney for ANZAC Day
1938.
The RSA brings back from Sydney the Dawn Service – the ex-service
ritual – and introduces it throughout New Zealand for ANZAC Day
1939.
RSA at War (1939-45)
The outbreak of WWII sees the RSA mobilise to assist the government and
the armed forces bring about victory. Many RSA members take a leading
role in home defence while some again serve overseas.
RSAs and recently-formalised Women’s Sections assist with sending
forces gift parcels (a tradition continued today for Defence Force personnel
stationed overseas at Christmas time).
Dominion President Sir William Perry goes from overseeing the RSA’s
war effort to that of the nation’s when he is appointed Minister
of the Armed Forces and War Co-ordination in the War Cabinet in 1943.
The RSA opens its arms to a new generation of returning servicemen and
women and battles to establish a world-class rehabilitation system.
Returning men and women respond by ‘joining up’ to the Association
began by their fathers and uncles. By 1947 membership reaches a peak of
136,000 (92,000 of whom are returned from the recent war).
Golden Weather (1950s-60s)
During the 1950s and 1960s the RSA is at its zenith in terms of membership
and activity.
There is an extensive building boom as RSAs either renovate or built
new clubrooms to accommodate the significantly increased and more active
membership.
The introduction of liquor licenses results in the development of the
now famous club atmosphere of the ‘Razza’.
The RSA has considerable status and influence in terms of the size of
its membership and their collective achievement in two world wars and
also the fact that their leader in peacetime is former wartime commander
Sir Howard Kippenberger.
The RSA is a cornerstone of postwar society.
Challenges (1960s-80s)
From its support for New Zealand’s involvement in the Vietnam War
to its pro-alliance stance during the ANZUS Crisis of the 1980s the RSA
is increasingly challenged by a growing portion of the postwar generation.
ANZAC Day is either the scene of protests or largely ignored by the public.
Dominion President Sir Hamilton Mitchell is an antithesis to the anti-war
movement.
It is also a period when the RSA looses the majority of its original
WWI members.
These challenges force the RSA to consider its future and respond with
the introduction of Service memberships as well as beginning the process
of formalising club memberships.
Revival (1990s-2006)
The renaissance of ANZAC Day over the last two decades reflects New Zealanders
growing interest in their military heritage and a shift in attention from
the politics of war to remembering the human experience of war. Veterans
become the focus of a burgeoning ANZAC Day celebration of national identity
The RSA is itself in the midst of a transition and a revival.
At a time when WWII members are less able to take an active part so the
baton is being taken up by younger Returned and Service members, as well
as a rapidly growing number of the new Associate members, part of a vibrant
organisation of 135,000 members spread over 170 RSAs nationwide by 2006.
John Campbell becomes the first post-WWII National President –
a Vietnam veteran.
2006 is the 90th Anniversary of the RSA and is acknowledged by Government
as the Year of the Veteran. It is a time to commemorate and celebrate
90 years of service but also to look forward to the future and new means
for one of the country’s largest voluntary organisations to continue
to serve the nation.
Source: RNZRSA Historian Dr Stephen Clarke
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