February 22, 2026 • 7 mins
His father is the new chief executive of Federated Farmers, but what is Jacob's connection with young farm boys who travelled 19,000km more than 100 years ago to fight for King and Country?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here is a young man with an interesting farming connection.
His name is Jacob Salmons, his father who I met
at the Southern Field days at Waimum, who down in
Southland a week or so ago as the new chief
executive of Federated Farmers. But Jacob Salmons, you are the
project manager, operations and marketing for the museum that New
(00:21):
Zealand has developed at Lequinoi in France, northern France. And
this is all about a museum honoring the soldiers and
New Zealanders who fought and in many cases lost their
lives on the Western Front. And Saddan McKinnon, an another
man with a great farming background, has talked about this
several times on the show. How did you get this job?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, that's right, Jamie. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
So I work at the New Zealand Liberation Museum to
Ata Fatto over in Leckna in the north of France,
and I've been working over in this wee little town
for almost two years now. I signed up to go
and work over there.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I'm in New Zealander.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
That speaks French and those are That's really one of
the core requirements to work in this little museum.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So your father fights the battles for Federated farmers, you
reflect on the battles we fought more than one hundred
years ago. Of course, Lecknwar is a great story about
New Zealand soldiers liberating this town a week before the
end of the Great War at great cost to them,
(01:30):
but not a single civilian life was lost. It's such
a great story.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, so it's quite an incredible story.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
It's one of New Zealand's best. Best from the First
World War. The story goes that the New Zealanders are
rolling forward after spending already a couple of years on
the Western Front, and the town of Lequilla has been
locked behind the German lions for the previous four years.
By this point they're under occupation. School is canceled, people
have been forced to work, and as New Zealander has
(01:58):
come forward, they come upon the the fortified town with
walls as high as twenty meters high all the way
around the town.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And they know that if they use their heavy artillery.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
On this position, which is exactly the type of position
you'd like to use those big guns on, they'll kill
the civilians. And so they make the decision to encircle
the town and find a way in. They find the
one position where a ten meter high ladder will reach
the top of the walls, and they climb that ladder
under machine gun fire. They enter the town, They free
(02:29):
the town. The civilians are delighted. You can imagine what
it's like for them after all that time under occupation,
and not.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
A single civilian is killed.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Meanwhile, one hundred and ninety three New Zealand boys are
killed during this battle. And of course our country is
so young, and so many of these men actually are farmers.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
They're from the likes.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Of Southland, Otago, even through the whited Uppo.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Some of our.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Soldiers who died there are from Northland, and they're all
trying to build this new country. And yet there're sent
nineteen thousand kilometers to the other side of the world
to fight for the Empire.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Well, in those days, the population of New Zealand was
only one million people. You correct me if my numbers
are wrong. My brother was had a doctorate in war history.
But I think ten percent of the New Zealand population
served I one hundred thousand and World War One. Of
that one hundred thousand, something like fifty thousand were casualties
either killed or wounded. That's a huge proportion of a
(03:30):
young country's population and it basically gutted the young men
of this nation.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
No, that's absolutely right, Jamie. It's an incredible toll that
this war took on our country.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
And of that ten percent.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Right, I mean, ten percent is already an incredible number
of people to send to the other side of the world.
But another number, which I mean shocks me to this day,
is forty four percent of all of our young men
between eighteen and went to the other side.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
And of course that's almost half of all of the
labor force at this time. People are living and working
a short You're right, it's the backbone of a very
young economy, a very very young economy, and more importantly,
a farming economy, setting up an industry in our young
country and using this beautiful, beautiful land to create, you know,
(04:27):
a hariving economy for New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
My grandfather got that wonderful World War One a cornella
of Gallipoli and then shipped alf to the Western Front.
And it's on my bucket list to go to this
New Zealand museum at lea Quenoa. I know that you're
still in the fundraising phase. Has it been popular with
Kiwis for instance, I know the All Blacks made a
point of going there around the Rugby World Cup.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
So New Zealand Rugby donated a beautiful carved bench to
the to the museum. But I think what is really
resonating with me is when we have descendants of those
soldiers who were there, you know, whether they lived or
died at Lakin where we have received hundreds of visits
(05:15):
from people who have a personal connection to the story
of Lacemwa.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And I can tell you.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I can tell you about one of them which really
resonated with me. We had a visit from a lady
named Kirsty Garner, who is the niece one generation of
a man named Walter McIntyre who died at Lakewa. He's
buried about three kilometers from the site of the museum,
and she received after the death of her mother, she
(05:44):
received a whole stack of letters that Walter had sent
home to the family before he died just after his
twenty second birthday. Now Kirsty lives in Lawrence in Central Otago.
She made the trip without a mobile phone, with help
and laptop she came all the way across the world,
you know, passing by christ Church and then Singapore and
(06:05):
then Paris and two trains up to Laquinwa, and the
level of emotion that we felt when she arrived, I
think it really makes it makes it worthwhile all of
the work that we've done at Lakinoa, because I mean,
you're right, Jamie, you mentioned the terrible places that some
of these men went, Gallipoli and then onto the Western
(06:27):
Front through places like the Somme, through Flanders. But stories
like the Kinwa are often overlooked, often forgotten, and so
to be able to shine a light onto a story
like that of Walter McIntyre, it just means it means
a really great deal to us.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
There If people want to support this museum financially, because
we are trying to get some donations for it, there
is a website you can go to, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That's right, so the New Zealand Liberation Museum. So it's
n Zliberation Museum dot com.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
You can otherwise go and.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Look at tata Fat or the New Zealand Liberation Museum
and you'll find our website. Look, if you'd like to donate,
of course we would be would love to hear from you,
but I think if people go on and just see
the kind of work that we're doing, we do a
lot more than simply.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Open the doors and.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Invite people into our weather workshop designed.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Museum exhibition.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
We do all sorts of things over there, and we
really share our New Zealand story with the people of looking.
We're in the people of France, and so sign up
for our newsletter read what we get up to. It's
again the NZ Liberation Museum dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Hey Jacob Simon's thank you so much for your time.
Good luck to your old man, your father, I better
be more respectful in his new job as chief executive
of Federated Farmers.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Thanks very much, Jamie, it's pleasure to talk to you.
Here is a young man with an interesting farming connection.
His name is Jacob Salmons, his father who I met
at the Southern Field days at Waimum, who down in
Southland a week or so ago as the new chief
executive of Federated Farmers. But Jacob Salmons, you are the
project manager, operations and marketing for the museum that New
(00:21):
Zealand has developed at Lequinoi in France, northern France. And
this is all about a museum honoring the soldiers and
New Zealanders who fought and in many cases lost their
lives on the Western Front. And Saddan McKinnon, an another
man with a great farming background, has talked about this
several times on the show. How did you get this job?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, that's right, Jamie. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
So I work at the New Zealand Liberation Museum to
Ata Fatto over in Leckna in the north of France,
and I've been working over in this wee little town
for almost two years now. I signed up to go
and work over there.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I'm in New Zealander.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
That speaks French and those are That's really one of
the core requirements to work in this little museum.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So your father fights the battles for Federated farmers, you
reflect on the battles we fought more than one hundred
years ago. Of course, Lecknwar is a great story about
New Zealand soldiers liberating this town a week before the
end of the Great War at great cost to them,
(01:30):
but not a single civilian life was lost. It's such
a great story.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, so it's quite an incredible story.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
It's one of New Zealand's best. Best from the First
World War. The story goes that the New Zealanders are
rolling forward after spending already a couple of years on
the Western Front, and the town of Lequilla has been
locked behind the German lions for the previous four years.
By this point they're under occupation. School is canceled, people
have been forced to work, and as New Zealander has
(01:58):
come forward, they come upon the the fortified town with
walls as high as twenty meters high all the way
around the town.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And they know that if they use their heavy artillery.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
On this position, which is exactly the type of position
you'd like to use those big guns on, they'll kill
the civilians. And so they make the decision to encircle
the town and find a way in. They find the
one position where a ten meter high ladder will reach
the top of the walls, and they climb that ladder
under machine gun fire. They enter the town, They free
(02:29):
the town. The civilians are delighted. You can imagine what
it's like for them after all that time under occupation,
and not.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
A single civilian is killed.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Meanwhile, one hundred and ninety three New Zealand boys are
killed during this battle. And of course our country is
so young, and so many of these men actually are farmers.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
They're from the likes.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Of Southland, Otago, even through the whited Uppo.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Some of our.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Soldiers who died there are from Northland, and they're all
trying to build this new country. And yet there're sent
nineteen thousand kilometers to the other side of the world
to fight for the Empire.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Well, in those days, the population of New Zealand was
only one million people. You correct me if my numbers
are wrong. My brother was had a doctorate in war history.
But I think ten percent of the New Zealand population
served I one hundred thousand and World War One. Of
that one hundred thousand, something like fifty thousand were casualties
either killed or wounded. That's a huge proportion of a
(03:30):
young country's population and it basically gutted the young men
of this nation.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
No, that's absolutely right, Jamie. It's an incredible toll that
this war took on our country.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
And of that ten percent.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Right, I mean, ten percent is already an incredible number
of people to send to the other side of the world.
But another number, which I mean shocks me to this day,
is forty four percent of all of our young men
between eighteen and went to the other side.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
And of course that's almost half of all of the
labor force at this time. People are living and working
a short You're right, it's the backbone of a very
young economy, a very very young economy, and more importantly,
a farming economy, setting up an industry in our young
country and using this beautiful, beautiful land to create, you know,
(04:27):
a hariving economy for New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
My grandfather got that wonderful World War One a cornella
of Gallipoli and then shipped alf to the Western Front.
And it's on my bucket list to go to this
New Zealand museum at lea Quenoa. I know that you're
still in the fundraising phase. Has it been popular with
Kiwis for instance, I know the All Blacks made a
point of going there around the Rugby World Cup.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
So New Zealand Rugby donated a beautiful carved bench to
the to the museum. But I think what is really
resonating with me is when we have descendants of those
soldiers who were there, you know, whether they lived or
died at Lakin where we have received hundreds of visits
(05:15):
from people who have a personal connection to the story
of Lacemwa.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And I can tell you.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I can tell you about one of them which really
resonated with me. We had a visit from a lady
named Kirsty Garner, who is the niece one generation of
a man named Walter McIntyre who died at Lakewa. He's
buried about three kilometers from the site of the museum,
and she received after the death of her mother, she
(05:44):
received a whole stack of letters that Walter had sent
home to the family before he died just after his
twenty second birthday. Now Kirsty lives in Lawrence in Central Otago.
She made the trip without a mobile phone, with help
and laptop she came all the way across the world,
you know, passing by christ Church and then Singapore and
(06:05):
then Paris and two trains up to Laquinwa, and the
level of emotion that we felt when she arrived, I
think it really makes it makes it worthwhile all of
the work that we've done at Lakinoa, because I mean,
you're right, Jamie, you mentioned the terrible places that some
of these men went, Gallipoli and then onto the Western
(06:27):
Front through places like the Somme, through Flanders. But stories
like the Kinwa are often overlooked, often forgotten, and so
to be able to shine a light onto a story
like that of Walter McIntyre, it just means it means
a really great deal to us.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
There If people want to support this museum financially, because
we are trying to get some donations for it, there
is a website you can go to, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That's right, so the New Zealand Liberation Museum. So it's
n Zliberation Museum dot com.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
You can otherwise go and.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Look at tata Fat or the New Zealand Liberation Museum
and you'll find our website. Look, if you'd like to donate,
of course we would be would love to hear from you,
but I think if people go on and just see
the kind of work that we're doing, we do a
lot more than simply.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Open the doors and.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Invite people into our weather workshop designed.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Museum exhibition.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
We do all sorts of things over there, and we
really share our New Zealand story with the people of looking.
We're in the people of France, and so sign up
for our newsletter read what we get up to. It's
again the NZ Liberation Museum dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Hey Jacob Simon's thank you so much for your time.
Good luck to your old man, your father, I better
be more respectful in his new job as chief executive
of Federated Farmers.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Thanks very much, Jamie, it's pleasure to talk to you.
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