February 22, 2017
Liberation binds descendants
Descendants of the World War 1 Maori Pioneer Battalion are planning a trip to the France next year to mark the centenary of the end of World War 1.
It follows a visit to Gisborne last week by a group from Le Quesnoy keen to strengthen connections with Aotearoa New Zealand.
Historian Monty Soutar says when he was in the historic walled town in 2015 he discovered it had a sister relationship with the Waikato town of Cambridge because that’s where the platoon that drove German troops out of the town in 1918 was drawn from.
Dr Souter suggested when they came to Aotearoa they should also visit Gisborne for an authentic cultural experience and to meet descendants of the Maori soldiers who arrived the day after the liberation.
"The pioneers who followed through and repair all the roads and bridges that the Germans destroyed on their retreat moved into the town and that setup is their headquarters where they lived in that town for 9 days after it was liberated. Our men were actually in that town when the armistice was signed on the 11th of November, he says.
Monty Soutar says for the visit to Gisborne and Manutuke he was able to find a number of locals who spoke both Maori and French to do the translations.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH MONTY SOUTAR
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