Card, 'Happy Birthday Greetings'

This small birthday card was sent by Private Karaitiana Te Ohaere of the New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion to Miss Sybil Mary Lee (1872-1956) during the First World War.

Sybil Lee worked for the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand. She received her training and nursing experience in Christchurch, and was accepted for work in the diocese of Waiapu. She was eventually stationed at Tokomaru Bay where she built up a Sunday School for the Maori community, extending it to the surrounding region.

In 1915, Sybil was granted six months leave of absence to visit England, but quickly found work visiting Maori soldiers at Wandsworth and Walton-on-Thames hospitals and stayed for two and a half years.

The message on the back of the card shows the affection she was held in: '16/1482 Pte K. TeO Haere, C Coy NZ Pioneers, NZ Division, France. Love from all the Tokomaru Bay boys.'

When Sybil returned to New Zealand in 1918, she was faced with the influenza pandemic, and organised hospital work in Waipawa. From 1919 to 1933 she worked in the Wellington Diocese, specifically with the Maori community in Otaki.