Te Pakanga me te Rongo War and Peace
Where have all the flowers gone? ANZAC 2024 — Ngā pakanga me te rongo, me waiata mai...
Ānei another year, another opportunity to remember, reflect and honour those who remain beyond te ārai - those whose actions touched so many of us.
Taihoa! There's the legacy of Te Whiti and Tohu and their commitment to passive resistance so beautifully crafted in J. C. Sturm's He waiata tēnei mō Parihaka, beginning with these words:
Have you heard of Parihaka
Between
Maunga Taranaki
And the seaWhere Te Whiti o Rongomai
And Tohu Kakahi
Preached
Passive resistance, not war?
And that haunting song for peace:
He timotimo tēnei — a taster of stories of the New Zealand Wars...
Jump to:
War changed the face of Aotearoa in the 19th century. Have a browse of this resource guide to pukapuka at the library, as well as some digitised sources online.
Below are some general sources that give a good overview and timeline of Ngā Pakanga Whenua o Mua in the 19th Century — these are a great place to jump in and start learning.
"In the 1840s and 1860s conflict over sovereignty and land led to battles between government forces and some iwi Māori. The largest campaign was the clash between the Kīngitanga and the Crown. Land confiscations to punish iwi that fought against the Crown left a legacy of grievance."
"War changed the face of New Zealand in the 19th century. Tens of thousands of Māori may have died in the intertribal Musket Wars fought between the 1810s and the 1830s. Muskets revolutionised intertribal warfare, decimating some tribes and drastically shifting the boundaries of areas controlled by others. Thousands fled their traditional lands, complicating questions of ownership and opening large areas to potential Pākehā (European) settlement."
The image to the right is of Boulcott's Farm, where disagreements over the validity of land purchases by the New Zealand Company led to a series of skirmishes between Māori and government troops in the Wellington region in 1846.
Read more about these events on NZHistory below, as well as the arrest of Te Rauparaha, and the attack on Battle Hill and Te Rangihaeata:
War in Wellington on NZHistory
Further resources:
Waiata, history programmes, a podcast and more — listen and watch the resources below.
Listen to a waiata — the Howard Morrison Quartet's popular The Battle of the Waikato. Penned by Gerry Merito, it merges memories of three wars against the British:
Listen to episodes 5 and 6 of RNZ's The Aotearoa History Show podcast series:
Watch excerpts from five-part television series The New Zealand Wars (1998) on NZ On Screen, presented by historian James Belich:
He hoiā, he toa — stories of Māori servicemen in the armed forces in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Biographies and stories of the lives and heroism of Māori servicemen in the armed forces in twentieth century and twenty-first century conflicts. Includes the stories of Victoria Cross recipients Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu, Willie Apiata, and William Rhodes-Moorhouse.
"Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu was the first Māori soldier to win the VC. A second lieutenant in the 28th (Maori) Battalion's C Company, he took part in the assault at Tebaga Gap, Tunisia, in March 1943."
William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Ruanui) has the distinction of being not just the first Māori airman, but also the first British airman to receive the award of Victoria Cross for his bravery in World War I.
Born in 1887 in Britain, Rhodes-Moorhouse and his siblings did not learn of their Māori ancestry, through his mother Mary Ann Rhodes, until 1908. Sadly, William Barnard died on 27 April 1915 after receiving horrific injuries during a successful bombing mission.
Read our full article about William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse, with sources, below (PDF), watch a documentary about Rhodes-Moorhouse, or find further links below.
"Of the many personalities visiting New Brighton in its European history, this man would be one of the most remarkable and celebrated, yet he killed a boy on the beach just south of the old pier (opened 1894)"
"Another Maori Victoria Cross? The case of Haane Manahi. During the Battle of Takrouna in Tunisia in April 1943, Lance Sergeant Haane Manahi of Te Arawa led a small band of Māori soldiers up a 300-m-high rocky outcrop. Under mortar and machine-gun fire, they captured a stronghold held by more than 300 Italian and German troops. The act was described by Lieutenant General Sir Brian Horrocks as 'the most gallant feat of arms I witnessed in the course of the war'. While a field-marshal and three generals recommended Manahi for the Victoria Cross (VC), this recommendation was changed, and a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was awarded instead. It is not known who made this decision, or why."
"Flying Officer Porokoru (John) Pohe was the first Māori pilot to arrive in England after passing through the Empire Air Training Scheme. He flew bombers over Germany until shot down. Pohe was executed on recapture after escaping with 76 other prisoners in the 'Great Escape' from the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft III."
"Bill (Willie) Apiata VC is the first, and so far only, recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand, which was instituted in 1999 to replace the British Victoria Cross. He earned the award for rescuing a wounded comrade under fire in Afghanistan in 2004."
Biographies and stories of Māori in World War One.
"When the First World War began many tribes answered the call, offering themselves for immediate service. In contrast to the South African War, the offer of a 500-strong Māori Contingent was accepted by the British government. During the war 2,500 Māori served overseas, a strong commitment from a total Māori population of 63,000."
Jump to:
Biographies and stories of Māori in World War Two, and of the 28th (Māori) Battalion.
"Māori made a sustained and valuable contribution to the armed forces during the Second World War. When war was declared many volunteered immediately for the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF), and some left New Zealand with the 1st Echelon in January 1940."
"There would be men of Māori descent in all of the infantry battalions throughout the war, while numerous Māori volunteers were spread throughout the other services."
"By the time the Second World War ended in 1945, 28 (Maori) Battalion had become one of the most celebrated and decorated units in the New Zealand forces. The pinnacle of its achievement was the Victoria Cross won by Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu in 1943. Ultimately, nearly 16,000 Māori enlisted for service during the Second World War."
"Between 1941 and 1945, New Zealand's 28th (Māori) Battalion forged an outstanding reputation on the battlefields of Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy. This site is dedicated to the men who served with the Māori Battalion and to their whānau and friends."
Listen and watch these videos and recordings of iconic waiata of World War II.
"Maori Battalion March to Victory, composed by B Company's Anania (Nan) Amohau and set to the music of an American marching song, became the Battalion's rallying cry..."
"'Blue Smoke' was the first song written by a New Zealander to be recorded and manufactured in New Zealand – and released on a New Zealand record label. [...] 'Blue Smoke' was written in May 1940 on board the Aquitania, the troopship taking the Māori Battalion to the Second World War. Among the soldiers in D Company was a dance band leader and multi-instrumentalist from Dannevirke, Private Ruru Karaitiana..."
"This is regarded as Tuini Ngawai's greatest composition. She wrote it when the men of C Company, 28th (Maori) Battalion were departing from the East Coast for the battlefields of World War II."
"This song has been popular since the Second World War when the young men of the Maori Battalion were away fighting in North Africa and Italy."
"A well-loved hymn of the Māori people. It was sung by the men of the 28th (Maori) Battalion before they went into battle, and at the battle's end. It is No. 94 in the Anglican Maori Hymn Book."
"In contrast to the sparsely populated North African desert, Māori soldiers in Italy had far more interaction with the local population - especially during the seven months the Battalion spent there after the fighting ended. Māori picked up the language easily, and Italian songs like 'Buona Notte Mio Amore' became part of the Battalion's repertoire. Many Māori felt at home among the warm-hearted Italian country folk, and some formed relationships with local women. More than a few tears were shed when the Battalion finally departed Italy in December 1945."
The popularity of the Italian songs was due to the influence of the time 28 Battalion spent in Italy in World War II. Several "tenors" of Rotorua became very consumed by the Italian waiata — Sir Howard Morrison, Joshua Gardiner, Bill Kingi, George Bennett and Hohepa Mutu are an illustration of the handed down influence of Italian waiata on 28 Māori Battalion members, sung at home and passed on:
"Morrison's introduction to music included listening to veterans of 28 (Māori) Battalion sing Neapolitan songs at parties, Sunday hymns at church, and the weekly Lifebuoy Hit Parade radio programme. He enjoyed mimicking the songs and learning to sing harmonies."
Watch a video below of The Howard Morrison Quartet Take Two — formed with Sir Howard Morrison's son, Howard Morrison Jnr, singing some of these songs in a tribute:
I roto i tō mātou whānau he momo tāonga tuku iho. Ka whakaakongia ki āna tamariki, i reira mātou ngā mokopuna e whakarongo ana ki a mātou mātou mātua e waiata ana. Ko tēnei tētahi o ngā tino waiata nā te mea i kawea mai i te pakanga."
(Translation: This song is very much a treasure within our whānau. Our koroua, Tommy, taught all of his kids this song and us grandkids would listen to our parents singing it. It is one of our favourite songs of his because he brought back with him from the war.)
"Hostilities in the Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953. Kayforce, the New Zealand contingent in Korea, did not contain formal separate Māori units. However, Māori often informally organised themselves into gun crews or other small units. Initially Māori made up 7.5% of Kayforce, but about one in four of the later reinforcements were Māori."
Read more about Māori and Kayforce below:
Kayforce - Monty Soutar on Te Ara
"Vietnam was the first war in which New Zealand did not fight alongside the British, but there was a reassuring Commonwealth presence in the form of Australia. New Zealand's effort was closely aligned with that of its trans-Tasman neighbour, especially after 1966, when V-Force formed part of an Australian task force. Vietnam was the first major war in which New Zealand's regular army was involved (as opposed to the former citizen-soldier expeditionary forces)."
About Māori in V-Force, Te Ara further says:
"New Zealand's effort in Vietnam reflected the increased involvement of Māori in the regular forces. No separate Māori unit had been created during the Korean War, and by the end of that conflict about one in four of those serving in Kayforce were Māori. The New Zealand battalion in Malaya from 1957 had a similar proportion of Māori. Some estimates of the Māori presence in Vietnam have been as high as 60%. In reality, Māori formed 35% of V-Force, but with many more officers and non-commissioned officers than previously. At the time, Māori were about 10% of New Zealand's total population."
Find audio and video memories, and a Vietnam veterans list on the official Vietnam War New Zealand site below:
Watch The Shadow of Vietnam, a 1995 documentary that gave soldiers that went to Vietnam a chance to tell their stories for the first time, after returning home to a society that was divided about their service overseas:
"Between 1964-1972, 4,000 young New Zealanders volunteered for service in Vietnam. Itching to get out into the world and do something exciting, the thrills were soon replaced by the grim reality of war. Things deteriorated further when they returned home to face an angry public; they were told to get out of their uniform quickly and not to tell anyone where they had been."
Here, as a final reflection on the stories on this page, are the waiata of Dennis Marsh — 'Man from Vietnam' and a 'Lest we forget' medley:
![Page, George Hyde, 1823-1908. [Page, George Hyde] 1823-1908 :Boulcott's Stockade in the Hutt Valley N. Z. 1846. Graves of soldiers 58th Reg. Ref: B-081-002. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.](/maori/rauemi/images/23012585-boulcott.png)
