A Nazi flag on display at the Raglan Museum’s ANZAC Exhibition was stolen from the Museum on the afternoon of ANZAC day. The flag, a Third Reich Battle flag had been captured by the late Whitfield Wright and other members of his Sherman tank crew in the NZ Army in Italy in 1944 during the second war. Wright family members had inspected the flag in the Museum just a few hours before the theft. Museum President Dr Patrick Day described Whit Wright as a stalwart of the Raglan Museum and said that the flag was priceless given its provenance and importance to Raglan’s history. The flag was on loan from Whit’s widow, Wyonne Wright. The flag just by itself has a monetary value of at least $1500 and with the provenance, the value to a collector would be much more than that. Dr Day said that the exhibition has been closed and he will be recommending to the committee that the cash strapped museum will remain closed until it can find funds to install security cameras.
In addition to the flag. a leather flying helmet and a piece of Nazi propaganda were also stolen from the Museum. In light of the thefts, the Raglan Museum has decided to close the exhibition early.
A front page story appearing in the Waikato Times of 26th April got the facts wrong saying the theft occurred at 2am while the dawn service was on. The Waikato Times have corrected this error with an in-dpeth report on the 27th April. Police are investigating. Anybody with information on the theft should contact the Raglan Police on Mobile 027 4880 520, Phone 07 825 8200.
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