THE MAORI BATTALION 1916
Deputy Prime Minister Joseph Ward visited
the Pioneer Battalion troops in France in 1918
Below is the words of the recruiting song of the
First Maori Contingent in World War One.
They served in Egypt, Gallipoli ,France, and Belgium.
Te ope tuatahi
No Aotearoa
No Te Wai-pounamu;
No nga tai e wha.
Ko koutou ena
E nga rau e rima,
Te Hokowhitu toa
A Tu-matau-enga:
I hinga ka Ihipa,
Ki Karipori ra ia.
E ngau nei te aroha,
Me te mamae.
Te ope tuarua,
No Mahaki rawa,
Na Hauiti koe,
Na Porourangi:
I haere ai Hënare
Me tö wiwi,
I patu ki te pakanga,
Ki Para-nihi ra ia.
Ko wai he morehu
Hei kawe korero
Ki te iwi nui e,
E taukuri nei?
Te ope tua-iwa
No Te Arawa,
No Te Tai-rawhiti,
No Kahungunu.
E haere ana au
Ki runga o Wiwi
Ki reira au nei,
E tangi ai.
Me mihi kau atu
I te nuku o te whenua,
He konei ra e,
E te tau pumau.
The first contingent was
from throughout New Zealand,
including the South Island;
they were from the four tides.
You there
the five hundred
the brave Battalion
of angry-eyed Tu.
Some of you have fallen in Egypt,
some in Gallipoli.
Love gnaws within us
and pain also.
The second echelon was
from around Gisborne,
from Tolaga Bay,
from the East Coast.
Farewell, O Henare,
and your 'clump of rushes'
who fell while fighting
in France.
Who will survive there
to bring the story back
to all the people
in sorrow bowed?
The ninth contingent
is from near Rotorua,
from near Gisborne,
and from Hawkes Bay.
And now I am going
to the conflict of the Frenchmen
and there will I
weep.
I salute you as I disappear out of sight of the land.
Goodbye
my own true love.