Our Soldiers Flag

Queen of fundraising

Queens Carnivals were a popular fundraising initiative in the 20th century. During the First World War, carnivals included performances, parades and the sale of local produce.

Usually, a dozen candidates (such as Queen of the Seas, Queen of the Dardanelles, Country Queen, Queen of the North) competed to be elected the 'Queen of the Carnival', with the winner pronounced queen in a coronation ceremony. In the lead up to a carnival, the Queens were tasked with fundraising for returning soldiers, their families and war refugees.

The Auckland Patriotic Queen Carnival 1915

Twelve candidates competed to be Queen in the Auckland Carnival in 1915.

The New Zealand Ensign named "Our Soldiers' Flag"​ was a fundraiser for the Soldiers' Queen, Mrs Alice Wallingford​, who was the wife of Captain Wallingford.

Mrs Agnes Keary embroidered names on the flag for a 'gold coin' fee of ten shillings each. It proved so popular that names kept being added even after the carnival had finished. The flag was presented during an fete at Point Erin Park. More than 20,000 people attended the event, which was organised by the Ponsonby unit of the National Reserve in support of Mrs Wallingford's fundraising efforts. The New Zealand Herald reported:

"During the evening the Union Jack presented to the group by Mrs A J Keary was unfurled, and the names of many Auckland soldiers now at the front will be embroidered on the flag as a result of the gold contributions received. Dainty souvenir programmes containing an autograph photograph of" the Soldiers' Queen were sold in large numbers."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16057, 25 October 1915, Page 4.

The flag is embroidered with the names of the Hauraki Squadron of the Auckland Mounted Rifles. At the centre of the Jack is the name of Cyril Bassett, VC. The flag fundraising initiative raised £305 for the Auckland Wounded Soldiers' Fund.

Mrs Wallingford placed fourth in the Queen Carnival, held in Auckland in November 1915. ​In the 10 weeks leading up to the coronation, nearly 21 million votes were cast - at a price of threepence per vote. The carnival raised a total of £269,000 ($37 million today).

This text accompanied a replica of Our Soldiers' Flag that was displayed in the Home Front - Experiences of the First World War in New Zealand exhibition 26 FEB 2016 - 8 JAN 2017.

Results

Displaying 1 - 20 of 344 records

Record ID	Photo	Family name	First names	Force	Wars	Service #		Preliminary
81563		Blackmore	Herbert	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	456
C42822		England	Thomas Rees	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	12/348
C43380		Fogarty	Harry	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	2/1923
C42920		Evesham	William George	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	12/346
C69537		McKee	Frank	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	12446
C41680		D'Audney	Charles Raymond	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	23/112
C41731		Davies	Charles Kenneth	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	4/1151
C43216		Finnagan	Andrew Thomas	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	12/2289
C64484		Hesketh	Harold	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	12/3676
C46267		Hopkins	Neville Banwell	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	4/512
C92679		McKee	Joseph Francis	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	48991
C67570		Baxter	Harold	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	11800
C73461		Clarke	Leslie George	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	3/2454
C46077		Hodgson	Athol Ramsden	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	4/510
C38531		Binns	Edwin Joseph	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	13/2532
80560		Craig	Henry Oliver	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	3051
C38642		Blackmore	Stanley	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	12/2216
C63919		Doyle	Owen Martin	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	18/32
C50894		Mills	James Swinton	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	12/175
C70965		Clark	Gilbert	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	23146

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