The story of this pact relates to the men who were going to the Korean War. It is written on a plaque at Lake Ferry. A few words are missing as follows – they each passed Mine Host Bill Nix a …..
Every Anzac day it is surrounded by poppies as a tribute to the memory of a fine young man.
The plaque was dedicated by Reverend Keith Elliot VC on 31 October 1982, and the framed scroll was sent “by the command of the Queen.
We believe the Lake Ferry Hotel bar is the only bar in the country that holds a church service. Until recently our family hosted the public every ANZAC Day providing complementary food and organising a programme that included speakers, prayer and the singing of war songs. It was always well attended and sometimes quite emotional. There are now very few veterans left. New members of the RSA have taken over the running of ANZAC day and they no longer come into the hotel but meet at the flagstaff in front of the hotel.
REQUIEM FOR A SOLDIER
Just prior to their embarkation for the Korean War in 1950, three well liked, young, Pirinoa men met for a farewell drink in this, the Lake Ferry Hotel Mita Carter, Bob Compton, and a naval rating, Dave Te Maari …
As a final gesture, they each handed “Mine Host’, Bill Nix, & signed pound note, requesting they be pinned together on the wall.
They stipulated that if word came through that any one of them had been killed in action, his money was to be used immediately to shout the bar. Otherwise the notes were to serve as the basis of a grand reunion, when the war was over.
Gunner Bob Compton is buried in the United Nations Cemetery in Tongot, Korea. When the news came that he was killed in action, the bar was full, but his pound note was never touched.
Instead, every Anzac Day it is surrounded with poppies in the memory of a fine young man.
It is possible that he never read the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam – but it’s final verse, with little alteration, could so easily have been written for him …
“And when you, yourself, with eager foot shall pass among the guests all crowded round this bar And in your joyous errand, reach the spot Where I made one, Turn down an Empty Glass”
