November 11, 2015
Tuhoe remembers WWI warriors
It's the eleventh day of the 11th month, and Ngai Tuhoe has held a special Armistice Day commemoration to mark the contributions their tupuna made to the war a century ago.
They were joined this morning by representatives of the French and Belgian embassies at Te Rewarewa Marae in Ruatoki, which includes Anzac Hall built in 1929 and dedicated to soldiers of the First World War.
Ruatoki RSA chair John McCorkindale says Olivier Schillé from Le Souvenir Français, an association that maintains the memorials for France's war dead, presented a replica of the Croix De Guerre to descendants of
Rifleman Puia Tamehana, who won it in 1917 for conspicuous bravery in the field at Flanders in Belgium.
A replica of the Military Medal won by Private Pa Te Amo in 1917 for gallantry in the capture of the French fortress town of Le Quesneoy was also presented to his descendants.
"From Te Rohe Potae o Tuhoe 75 volunteered and enlisted to go an put out the fire, so to speak. We will commemorate their dedication and their service to the Tuhoe people and also to Aotearoa," Mr McCorkindale says.
The soldiers from Te Rohe Potae were a mix of Maori and Pakeha, and all were remembered at this morning's ceremony, which also featured replicas of the flag of theMaori Contingent and the King's Colour awarded to the Pioneers by King George V in 1919.
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