Farewelling troops painting

Painting by Walter Armiger Bowring (1874-1931) showing the dockside farewell to members of the 2nd Reinforcements for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force aboard HMNZT no. 14 (Willochra), which sailed from Wellington on 14 December 1914. On Saturday 12th they had paraded in front of thousands of people at Newtown Park before marching through city streets lined with spectators.

This image appeared in a supplement to ‘New Zealand at the Dardanelles’ (a special war number of the Weekly Press, 18 September 1915) with the caption, 'The joyous rally of New Zealand's sons to the King's call. A typical departure of reinforcements for the Expeditionary Force.' Regulations which came into force in October 1917 ended public access to the wharves.