From the trenches of WW1 to the ravaged streets of Ukraine - gingernuts continue to be comfort food for the battle-scarred.
More than 100 years after an Eltham woman sent tonnes of gingernuts to Kiwi troops fighting in WWI, a couple running a B&B in the Taranaki town aim to do the same for Ukraine.
Photo: Baking Mad
Using the same century-old recipe, David and Maria Hancock have been baking up a storm for a New Zealand aid agency headed back to Ukraine this week.
"It's a very simple recipe and the most special thing about the biscuits is they're enduring," Hancock said.
By 'enduring', he means baked hard and dry to last the fight.
"A lot of people still like a hard gingernut. Those troops loved them, they put them on there and sucked on them. So they took a while to digest, you put the moisture back in with your saliva basically."
David Hancock baking up gingernuts from century-old recipe to support Ukraine. Photo: David Hancock
The person responsible for the recipe was Helena Marion Barnard, who received the British Medal of Honour for her efforts in baking four and half tonnes of gingernuts over the two world wars.
- Listen to an interview with Helena Marion Barnard recorded around the time of her 100th birthday here
Barnard is something of a local hero to Hancock.
"She had a lot of boys, one daughter. She was a pretty stylish kind of lady, but not only that, she was a hard-working lady. She raised money for an ambulance in the First World War, it wasn't just the biscuits she was making," he said.
Helena Marion Barnard, otherwise known as the Gingernut Lady”, received a British Medal of Honour for her efforts baking four and a half tons of biscuits over the course of both world wars. Photo: Courtesy of Maryann Sanders
The Hancocks have already put in hundreds of hours baking up a storm.
They were producing thousands of golden goodies - some being sold to raise funds for ReliefAid, and some going directly to Ukraine, where the winter freeze was setting in.
Maria Hancock packages thousands of gingernuts from century-old recipe to support Ukraine. Photo: David Hancock
Despite recent advances by Ukraine enabling some to return to their homes, for many, only rubble and ruin remained.
Anne Bulley from ReliefAid said it was a desperate situation.
"Virtually they have no power, no water, walls that have been blasted out. They have no windows, it's actually then, just trying to piece together people's properties to make them winterproof and watertight enough to live there, before they can rebuild."
Relief Aid workers sorting through supplies in Ukraine warehouse. Photo: FlorianBachmeier
Bulley was headed back to Ukraine today with truckloads of supplies - like coats, stoves and temporary shelter kits - to help people brave the winter.
"There are people baking gingernuts, there are people making pizzas, there are people doing dinners and fundraisers. There is still humanity."
David Hancock hoped his efforts could offer some solace.
"We've got the old post office, it's from the same era as these buildings we see smashed with holes in them. I've imagined many times if somebody in Hawera started shooting bombs in our town. You can't help but feel for these people," he said.
A chunk of humanity to help Ukrainians weather the brutal months ahead.
