
Eruera Dennis Hamon posthumously received first prize in the Black and White Section of the 2 NZEF military art competition in 1941. His work entitled 'The Spirit of the Bayonet' foresaw the defeat of the Axis Forces in the Western Desert. The skull and helmet and the Nazi swastika drawn in reverse leave no room for the sceptic to doubt his theme.
The young soldier's focal point was drawn from the very fountains of his heart: the snow capped mountain, the fortified pa, the challenging warrior hovering over a self portrait, the native silver fern. During the process of their depiction, these would have taken him away from the hot, dusty, war striken desert to the quiet beauty of his homeland - Aotearoa.
'The Spirit of the Bayonet' may have been executed when he was forced for time or just plain tired. His signature seals the completion of what appears to be an unfinished work and seems to say in quiet tones:
"In humility I am tired now, my battle I have won. Pray God that I may hear Thee say: 'Well done, my son, well done.'"
Eruera Dennis Hamon was admitted to the Mobile Surgical Unit (28 Maori Battalion) on the 25th of November 1941 and died 5 days later on the 30th of November 1941, aged 21 years. He is buried in the Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery, Egypt. He was actually 2 years younger than what he stated on his enlistment record.
Dennis is the youngest child of Henare and Lydia Hamon and belongs to Te Whānau a Taupara and Nga Pōtiki hapū of Te Aitanga a Māhaki.
- Pearl Hine Hamon Anderson, 2009
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A young soldier's self portrait
Forward by Sir Charles Bennett
'Te Karere' magazine tribute, 1942
Titled: A Maori Artist
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