It's good to see the special emphasis this ANZAC DAY on Maori TV on Old Boys of Te Aute College who fought for God King and Country in WW2. When I was there (1952-6) the war was very much a part of Maori culture and very recent history that affected all of us at Te Aute. We all had fathers or uncles who went to war. Te Aute began each year with a "Cadets Week" complete with parade drill, such as marching, sloping and ordering arms with real rifles (WW1 Blunderbuses), and the whole school in four platoons marching past our Principal (formerly Col. Webb) to end the week. Thereafter we had Cadets at least for four weekends during the year. However if you were capable and got into the Shooting Team which I did you spent that time practicing at Roys Hill shooting range for the interschool Coleman Shield shooting competition. The Seniors also practiced with the Bren Gun at the same range. You can take it from me, being in the shooting team was far more enjoyable than "square bashing," If you were Wi Kuki Kaa however you could invent your own moves on the parade ground provided you didn't get caught. Another activity we took part in was to provide a guard of honour for Anzac Day at Otane, Waipawa, Waipukurau, Ongaonga and Tikokino. We were part of the ceremony and stood guard around the cenotaphs. We listened to the same speech by the same person at each of those places but at the end there was a huge lunch for us. At Te Aute then that was really something.
I remember the soldiers from home returning after that war namely Sgnt Horiana Rupapera and Pvt Mu Timoti Hetaraka. Pvt. Patana Matiu was repatriated back in 1943 after a very rough time in Greece and Crete. My uncle Pvt Jimmy Ritete wasn't so lucky. He was in the HQ Company of the 28 Battalion and ran over a mine on a motor bike. Wounded, he crawled into a cave and was captured by the Germans. he spent the war as a POW in Italy which he loved and Germany. The powhiri were held on our marae when it was at Waiari. Mu's mother was blind and had to use her hands to see her son. They also had a tangi for Pvt. Ranga Raharuhi who was killed in Crete. Probably every marae and hapu like ours had those powhiri and tangi during that time.
I remember reinforcements for the Maori Battalion training at a place called Perehipe. They had target shooting practice with targets floating in the sea about 100 yards off shore. Us kids picked up the empty shells and put them at the end of our pencils at school. Those soldiers went overseas and I don't know if they saw any action. Their officers took over an empty house which once belonged to Pari Raharuhi an uncle of Ranga. Before that I remember a tank coming over the sand hills at Tokerau Beach but since my mother passed away I have no way of verifying if I saw a tank or what. An American plane landed in the gumfields at Lake Ohia. We saw it flying low over Te Ahu on a bad stormy day over our place at Waiari. The next day we were told of the crash. No one died but the rumours were that the plane had to jettison its cargo that included lollies and chocolates. The plane was trying to land at Waipapakauri Aerodrome.
I remember one Anzac Day at Rangiawhia Native School when a relieving teacher Miss Jaimison described the invasion of Gallipoli by the Anzacs. She said that a soldier got his head shot off on the beach. He ran around in circles without his head and then fell dead. How she knew I don't know but she was a very warm and emotional person. She etched Gallipoli and Anzac into my memory for good.
Ka nui enei mahara mo te wa. Nga mihi me nga tangi mo nga hoia o nga pakanga katoa. E kore ratou e warewaretia.
Atihana
