Follow
The 1st Maori Contingent, A Company, New Zealand Maori Battalion which embarked from Wellington on 14th February 1915 on board the SS Warrimoo for Suez, Egypt. arriving Gallipoli 30 June 1915.
Sent ahead to prepare for the arrival of the rest of the New Zealanders, the Pioneers began work on a 8-km communications trench, 'Turk Lane', leading to the front line.
Some members of the infantry described this trench as a masterpiece, but it came at a heavy price. Under constant and heavy artillery fire, the Pioneers toiled with pick and spade, completing their mission around midnight on 16 September.
Along with its companion, 'Fish Alley', Turk Lane became part of a 2-m-deep artery that gave men moving to and from the front line a degree of cover.
The Maori Contingent landed at Anzac Cove on 3 July 1915. Here they joined the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, who were being deployed as infantry on the peninsula.
During the assault on Chunuk Bair in early August, 17 men of the Maori Contingent were killed and 89 wounded.
The Maori Contingent was hit hard by events at Gallipoli. It was further shocked in August 1915 when General Godley dismissed three officers who had been arrested and charged with what amounted to desertion in the face of the enemy.
Pioneers were employed in a range of other, often unpleasant, roles. On 25 August 1916 members of the Pioneer Battalion were used as the firing squad in the execution of Private Frank Hughes of the Canterbury Battalion. Hughes was convicted for desertion and 'evading service'. He was the first of five New Zealanders to be executed during the First World War.
The contingent was involved in the assault on Hill 60 in late August, and by September, only 60 of the 16 officers and 461 other ranks who had arrived in July remained at Gallipoli.
The return of sick and wounded members boosted numbers, but when the contingent was evacuated from the peninsula with the rest of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in December 1915, it had only two officers and 132 men. During the campaign 500 Māori had lost their lives.
Te Rangi Hīroa recorded in his diary that the gallantry of Māori at Gallipoli had 'earned them the respect and admiration of the British troops'. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and nine other members of the contingent received military awards.
Their motto was 'Te Hokowhitu a Tū' (the seventy twice-told warriors of the war god), signifying the 140 warriors of the war god, Tū-mata-uenga. This name was given by Wī Pere, an East Coast rangatira.
The crest of the contingent bore two traditional Māori weapons, the taiaha and tewhatewha, crossed through a crown.
Major changes were made to the nature and form of Māori military service in late 1915 and early 1916.
The Maori Contingent ceased to exist and Māori troops were incorporated into the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion. The battalion was organised into four companies, each with two Māori and two Pākehā platoons, the Pakeha Platoons were formed from the remnants of the Otago Mounted Rifles. Neither the Otago Mounted Rifles nor the Māori were happy with this reshuffle.
The Otago men in particular resented becoming pioneers.
Other Māori soldiers were encouraged to transfer to the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion, but many chose to stay in the battalions in which they had enlisted.
The Battalion,was the first unit to move onto the Somme Battlefield, where fighting began on 1 July.
Under constant fire the Pioneer Battalion began work on what became “Turk Lane”, the 8km communications trench leading to the front line. those killed are buried in the Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steemwerck.
In New Zealand they are remembered on the Greendale and Malvern County War Memorials.
James Allen, wrote to Major-General Sir Alexander Godley, commander of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, stating, 'Although they are a coloured race I think it would be apparent on their arrival that they are different to the ordinary coloured race.'
Godley recommended that the contingent go to Malta for further training and garrison duties, thus freeing up Pākehā troops for combat. When the contingent arrived in Egypt, Te Rangi Hīroa (Peter Buck) made an impassioned plea:
Our ancestors were a warlike people … [T]he members of this war party would be ashamed to face their people at the conclusion of the war if they were to be confined entirely to garrison duty and not … given an opportunity of proving their mettle at the front.