At the outbreak of WW1 most New Zealanders at the time predicted the war would be over by Christmas, unfortunately the Allies were unable to exploit any breakthrough after the German retreat at the Battle of the Marne in 1914, and the war on the western front became more of a positional war of attrition.
When the Second NZ Reinforcements arrived at Trentham Camp the 21st October 1914, it was nothing more than a large paddock, next to a racecourse and Railway siding with a rifle range and a few civilian residences close by. The only military additions were the row upon row of Indian Service pattern bell tents that had been erected to house the 2nd Reinforcements.
The following photo of Trentham Camp is dated November 1914, and is captioned as
“showing Artillery, Mounted Rifles and Infantry, 2nd Reinforcements Engineers and Veterinary Corps in occupation.”
The following photo (Ref: 1/1-017536-G. Alexander Turnbull Library) of Trentham Camp is dated 1914 and is titled —
“Airing the camp after rain, Trentham NZ”
As can be seen in the above picture, some of the biggest obstacles for the men of the 2nd Reinforcements were the general habitableness and sanitary conditions. Heavy rain which hit Trentham around the 24th of November 1914, combined with poor drainage, turned the grass/dirt walkways into mud. Another obstacle was the poor water supply which initially required heavy restrictions until local hill streams could be diverted into a purpose built reservoir to supply the camp.
The only camp comforts available to the 2nd Reinforcements was a Post/telegraph office, a barber's shop, a cordial hotel (better known as a dry canteen), billiard tables, a picture show, several churches (tented edifices), a Salvation Army, a Y.M.C.A., and a single shower/bathing block.
The following close ups are just a couple of examples to show that the majority of 2nd Reinforcements pictured in the above photo are not wearing any hat badges, adding yet another nail in the coffin for the wearing of Reinforcement badges by the 2nd Reinforcements.
