LEST WE FORGET

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 93, 14 January 1926, Page 13

LEST WE FORGET

MAORI WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL CEREMONY AT OHAWE (From Our Special Reporter.) Hawera, January 13. At Ohawe, a township on the coast, some live or six miles from Hawera. there is a little cemetery containing the graves of twenty-four men of the Imperial and Colonial Forces who died during the Maori War. the majority having been killed in action at the historical Otapawa Pa engagement oil January 13, 1806. To-day the 60th anniversary of the Otapawa battle, marked a unique ceremony-—the unveiling of a cairn erected in 1007, to which the names’ of several more war veterans had recently been added, lhe ceremony, which was performed by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. R. F. Bollard) was attended by a representative gathering of the people of Taranaki. Tributes were paid by all the speakers to the struggles of the men who fought in New Zealand’s early wars. "It is typical of the people of this Dominion,” said the Minister, “ that they pay, whenever opportunity offers, homage to men who fought those hard fights with redoubtable opponents for their salvation and for the benefit of those who should come after them in the settlement of this country. The Maori, now our kith and kin, was a clean but hard fighter, a fighter who won the admiration of our men—some of whom lie under this sacred earth. At that memorable battle—at Otapawa pa on January 13, IS66—the British losses were 11 killed and 20 wounded. The killed are all buried in Ohawe Cemetery. To the memory of these fighters, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to-daj’ to recall their fine work and to mourn their loss. From my reading of the history of the Otapawa engagement the scene of it was at a farm about five miles from Hawera, and a mile above the bridge across the Tangahoe on the I-lawera-Meremere Road. Even at the present time it is easy to trace the line of the manyangled front parapets and the trenches by the depressions in the ground. Inside Uie'pa there are numerous ruas, or food stores, and the sites of dug-in huts. The place is not fenced or In any way protected from stock, and it is claimed that it is worthy of a little attention as one of Taranaki's most historical spots. I understand that a reserve of about one acre would include the whole of the. ruined fortifications. That is a matter to which I am giving careful consideration.” Continuing, the Minister said that the records showed that the British forces engaged in the battle numbered 200 men of ‘the 14th Regiment, 180 of flic 57th Regiment, 36 of the Forest Rangers, and 200 of the Native Contingent. W'th the sunnort of three Armstrong field guns. To-day there were but two survivors of the engagement, one of whom. Sergeant-Major Bezar, of 19 Rintoul Street, Wellington, was present at the ceremony. The speaker remark'ed that it was the policy of the Government led by the late Right Hon. W. F. Massey to sec that the last resting place of the war veterans were properly looked after, and that policy was rried out with even greater vigilance by the present Prime Minister

(Right Hon. J. G, Coates). The names inscribed on the cairn when it was erected in 1907 were as follow:—s7th Regiment: Sergeant Fred. Day, Sergeant John Sullivan. Corporal W. Noble, Privates Joseph Mater, Robert Doake, George Ring, Hugn McGregor, John Laverly, John Manning, John Moran. 2nd Battalion. 14th Keeimeut: Sergeant John Fox, Private John Whelan. 40th Regiment: Private John Harvey. Wanganui Yeomanrv: Sergeant M. Duff, Trumpeter John Foyston, Private T. U. Wright, Private Aricales Econioniedes. 3rd Waikato Regiment: Private John Harvey, Vol. U. Wtiglit, and seven others, names now lost to memnrv Since, the following additional names tiave been added by the Government: — Wanganui Rangers: Private Green, killed at Pungafaliu, October, 186 b. Wanganui Yeomanrv: Trooper Patrick Hanlv, killed at Polii Pohl, October, 1866; Trooper Higinson, died of fever, Waihi camp, December, 1866. Wellington Rangers: Private T. Sliehan, drowned Waiugongoro River, July, 1660. At the conclusion of his speech Mr. Bollard, who was accompanied by Mrs. Bollard, placed at the foot of the memorial a floral tribute from) the Government.