Special Constable's baton

The Waterfront Strike or 'Great Strike' of 1913 is remembered as one of the most violent episodes in New Zealand's labour history. A strike of waterside workers from late October blocked New Zealand's overseas trade, especially agricultural exports. There was violence on the streets between striking union members and non-unionist strike-breakers, and the Commissioner of Police decided to enrol special constables, known as 'Specials'. Many of these 'Specials' were recruited from rural areas, and hundreds came to the port cities, especially Auckland and Wellington, mounted on horseback. Violent clashes between them and strikers in Wellington at the end of October led to the mounted 'Specials' being called 'Massey's Cossacks' (a reference to the Prime Minister, W.F. Massey, who was determined to defend the interests of farmers and employers, and the use of mounted Cossack troops to crush strikers in Russia).

Hugh Macalister White was a 20-year old farmer from Manaia, in Taranaki, and became a member of 'G' squad of the mounted 'Specials' in Wellington. The mounted 'Specials' were armed with long wooden batons, and Hugh carved his with elaborate motifs and a slogan 'Society Combats Anarchy Brutality Syndicalism' which show his motives for volunteering as a 'Special'.

Like many of the 'Specials', Hugh was a part-time soldier or 'Territorial', and he was to volunteer for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in June 1915. He served as a Trooper in the Wellington Mounted Rifles at Gallipoli during October to December 1915, and then in Egypt and Palestine. He was promoted Sergeant on 15 November 1917, but a few days later fell dangerously ill with acute gastritis and died on 27 November at El Arish. He is buried at the Kantara War Memorial Cemetery.