WILL FIGHT TO FINISH

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23848, 18 January 1943, Page 6

WILL FIGHT TO FINISH

MAORI BATTALION IN MIDDLE EAST

TANGI AT TUAHIWI “Since my return to New Zealand from the Middle East I have heard talk of the return of the Maori Battalion. Let me tell you this —the boys over there do not wish to come home until the war is finished. They have a job to do, and they desire to see it through. That is definite. War is war!” In these words Lieutenant Tikao Barrett, M.C., the first South Island officer in the Maori Battalion to return from abroad, replied to a welcome extended to him by his kinsfolk at Tuahiwi on Saturday. The occasion was particularly significant from the Maori viewpoint as the greeting to the young officer was combined with a tangi, the first held to commemorate the men of Ngai-Tahu who had fallen in the present war. The traditional wailing of the women during this impressive ceremony signified the sorrow of the Maori people. Associated with Lieutenant Barrett in this welcome was Private Tumai Rehu, another member of the battalion, who had recently returned from the front. “Like Warriors of Old” The ceremony arranged at Tuahiwi coincided with the return of Lieutenant Barrett, and news of the death in action of Corporal Hikoata Ross Piki. Five other soldiers from this settlement have given their lives: Lorimer Wereta, Tauhe Harawira, Harry Hadfield, Billy Crane, and Tahumataa Pitama. Addressing the relatives, Lieutenant Barrett said: "Let me tell you that the sons that you have given to your country died worthy of their ancestors. It seemed as if these men had gone back a century. They fought like the warriors of old. One could not have wished for better comrades. Their one desire was to serve New Zealand, the land of their birth, and maintain the Maori mana. “Life is held cheaply on the battlefield,” he continued. “I have known these young men of the Maori battalion come into the lines eager and keen for the fray. I have known them when the show was over to be old men. The experiences we have had we will never forget. I knew the boys for whom you mourn to-day; I lived with them, ate with them, and slept with them. At night in our beds we would talk of you folk here in the village. I mingle my tears with yours. Though I am here in body, my heart is with my comrades overseas." It was his wish, said Lieutenant Barrett, to have remained with his men, but the medical authorities decided that he should return for treatment. “I can only say,” he added, “that I will not rest until I am back with them, or they have returned to this country. But war is war. They realise, as indeed we all do. that they cannot come back until the war is won." Great Responsibility

Addressing the returned men, Mr E. T. Tirikatene, M.P., said that a great responsibility rested upon young officers who had proved themselves like Lieutenant Barrett. “Though you are young in years, you are rich in experience," he said, "and the Maori people will look to you as a father.” The other speakers included Mr Wlremu Rehu, the elder of the village. Mrs Manakore Pitama, Mr Te Ari Pitama, and Mr D. Ellison, of Otago Heads, who extended the sympathy of the southern portion of Ngai-Tahu to the bereaved at Tuahiwi.

Alter the tangi the representatives from the different maraes were entertained at luncheon by Mrs Manakore Pitama. The place of honour at the head of the table was occupied by Lieutenant Barrett.