R.H. Ashcroft wrote the following poem published in New Zealanders at the Front, written and illustrated by men of the New Zealand Division, published by Cassell & Co. Ltd, 1917, p.145.



1914-1917

Something alone I crave: a little rest;

Rest from inhuman things conceived in Hell,

The snarl of shrapnel and the shrieking shell,

Mysterious No-Man's Land where dread things dwell.

So may my spirit once again be blest,

And strong to reach the heights from which it fell

Thro' listening to the War God's deadly jest

When ghouls wreaked vengeance on the tortured west.



Soon may I see the white-sailed yachts come home

At eve across the Waitemata's tide,

Its placid azure cleft to sparkling foam,

And hear the sound of laughter as they glide -

Fair women's laughter, sweet to those who roam

Thro' stricken fields, shall bring me back my pride,

And in that Land where God has built His shrine

There will be peace at last for me and mine.



R.H. Ashcroft. AWMM