Te Hokowhitu A Tu – The Maori Pioneer Battalion In The First World War | by Christopher Pugsley

Description

Māori soldiers signing up for the First World War representing a formidable fighting force – Te Hokowhitu A Tu, or Seventy twice-told warriors of the wat god, Tumatauenga. Some 2,227 Māori and 458 Pacific Islanders enlisted with the Māori Pioneer Battalion, providing an essential element in the New Zealand Divisions fighting effort, and earring a reputation for bravery and dependability in France, Flanders and beyond. Prejudice kept the Māori Pioneer Battalion well back from the front lines as support troops, but their war efforts won them rights as full citizens of their homelands. Drawing on rare archival material and previously unpublished diaries and letters, Te Hokowhitu A Tu is the authoritative account of Māori and Pacific Islanders in the First World War, and balances the wider story of the Pioneer Battalion’s exploits with a portrait of daily life for soldiers who labored not only against the enemy but also racism behind their own lines. It includes numerous photographs and a full list of those who fought with the battalion.

Pages: 147

Published: 1995