The Maori Battalion Story...

In class we have been assigned to summarise a text called "The Maori Pioneer Battalion".

This text was all about war and the impact on the soldiers in it.

I learnt that the soldiers did a lot more than just fight in one spot, they also went around to different locations and defended them.

Here is my summarised story:

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The Maori Pioneer Battalion

War was Declared on the 4th of August, 1914.

The Government decided to send 8000 men to war but within 4 days, thousands and thousands of men had signed up.

The main group of soldiers was called the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Very Few Maori had Birth Certificates at the time which made it easy for Maori Boys to lie about their ages. In no time, places like the East Coast and Rotorua had more than enough volunteers.

In July 1915, The soldiers were sent to Gallipoli.

At first, the Maori started off their war by digging trenches and building supply depots.

The Maori men joined the war to fight, and because of heavy casualties of the NZ Soldiers, the Maori got their chance.
On the 6th of August, the Maori soldiers were ordered to go infiltrate the Turkish trenches along the foothills of Chunuk Bair.

Before they started their Trek a Chaplain said a prayer: “Remember you have the mana, the honour, and the good name of the Maori people in your keeping this night.

That night the haka “Ka Mate Ka Mate” would be heard from the hills as the Maori contingent captured enemy trenches, one by one.

The Maori Contingent became known as “Te Hokowhitu-A-Tu.

In 1915, the soldiers were farewelled. Their Whanau said:

“Farewell, Young Men. Go and uphold the name of our warrior ancestors. Fear God. And honour the King”. 

The group of 500 men sailed to Egypt. From there, they were taken to Malta where they would guard the Island for a few weeks.

Some people thought that the war would be a quick and easy victory but it was quite the opposite.

Because of the high death toll, not many more men were signing up so governments quickly found a problem.

By 1918 over 100 Waikato Maori had been sent to prison for evading military training. In the long run, only a handful of Waikato Maori ever got into uniform.

Seventeen Maori died on the slopes of Chunuk Bair, countless more were injured.

After the battle Maori soldiers became known as brave fighters.

Te Hokowhitu-A-Tu was slowly reduced to almost nothing.

By the time the Contingent left, only 134 Maori soldiers remained out of the 500 that fought alongside them. 

After Gallipoli, soldiers from Te Hokowhitu-A-Tu joined with the soldiers at the Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment.

Those two groups could now be known as the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion. 

These men arrived in France in April, 1916.

Their war started off as digging trenches and building roads behind the front line.

These tasks were still an endangerment to their lives as they were constantly under gun fire. This Feat made it extremely hard to get things done.

A few months later, these men became involved in the battle of the Somme, and much later, Messines, where more Maori died in action.

Around the middle of 1917, the Pioneer Battalion was reformed.

The Otago men were replaced with around 470 soldiers, most of these men coming from Nuie and the Cook Islands.

This newly forged battalion became known as the New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion.

On the day of the Wars end, the troops were on their way to Germany.

Suddenly, high command changed its orders.

The soldiers were sent back to New Zealand.

The Maori Pioneer Battalion were the only people that would return to NZ. As a group, the Maori soldiers were given a huge welcome back.

The soldiers knew that they had done their part in the war and done it well…

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