Vailima bell

  • Height  629 mm
  • Width  762 mm
  • Weight  266.5 kg
  • Note  C#
Bell Inscription

Vailima
In Memory of Officers, N.C.O.’s and Men of
the 5th (Wellington) Regt.
Who fell in the Great War, 1914-18.
‘Virtutis Fortuna Comes’

The 5th Wellington Regiment, firstly known as the Wellington Veteran Volunteer Corps, was a territorial regiment formed in 1867 shortly before the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to Wellington. Members of the regiment served in the South African War.

On the outbreak of the First World War the 5th Regiment was ordered to Samoa. The capture of German Samoa in August 1914 was the first action undertaken by New Zealanders in the First World War. After the occupation of Samoa the majority of the regiment’s members returned to New Zealand to become members of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, which was then being formed to serve in the main part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (Note this regiment is not to be confused with the Wellington Regiment which served as part of the NZEF.)

The name of the bell, Vailima, is the name of a village in Samoa best known as the location of poet Robert Louis Stevenson’s residence called Villa Vailima. The house was the residence of the Governor of German Samoa when the New Zealanders arrived to capture the island, and was then used for Samoa’s New Zealand-appointed governor. It is now a museum. 

In 1933 this bell was sounded eight times to commemorate the capture of Samoa in 1914. The carillon recital also included the playing of the well-known Samoan song Tofa Mai Feleni.

The quotation on the bell, Virtutis Fortuna Comes, is Latin for ‘Fortune is the companion of virtue’ or ‘Fortune Favours the Brave’. The crest of the Duke of Wellington had been used as the Wellington Regiment’s badge since 1898, and after the First World War Virtutis Fortuna Comes, which had been the Duke of Wellington’s motto, was added to the badge.

Further information:

Stephen John Smith, The Samoa (N.Z.) Expeditionary Force 1914–1915, Ferguson & Osborn Limited, 1924

Community contributions

No comments have been posted about Vailima bell

What do you know?

Can you tell us more about the information on this page? Perhaps you have a related experience you would like to share?

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Comments will be reviewed prior to posting. Not all comments posted. Tell me more...