MAORI HEROES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 23, 27 July 1942, Page 7

MAORI HEROES

MEMORIAL MEETINGS

IMPRESSIVE TRIBUTES

A memorial service in honour of the late Lieutenant-Colonel E. T. Love and the members of the. Maori Battalion who laid down their lives in the war was held yesterday morning in the Maori Hall, Lower Hutt, and was followed in the afternoon by a meeting at which many speakers referred to the gallantry and noble service of the Maoris. The attendance at the morning service was far too large to be accommodated in the hall, and overflowed into the marae. Among those present, besides leaders of the Maori race from all parts of the Dominion, were Mrs. P. Fraser, Lady Pomare. the Acting Prime Minister (Mr. Sullivan), the Minister of Defence (Mr. Jones), the Minister of Native Affairs (Mr. Mason), Mr. H. E. Combs, M.P., Brigadier A. E. Conway, Colonel R. St. J. Beere, LieutenantColonel Gorton, and Mr. G. P. Shepherd, Chief Judge of the Native Land Court, and representatives of the R.S.A. Mrs., J. W. Andrews, Mayoress, | represented her husband, who was absent on Home Guard duties. Mr. and Mrs. Wi Hapi Love, their sons and grandchildren, including the three daughters of the late Colonel Love j (their mother being absent at her duties as paramount chieftainess of Rarotonga) were present. i The service was conducted in Maori by the Rev. Hoh&pa Taiepa, and the preachers wererthe Rev. H. S. I. Kenney and the Rev. Paora Te Muera. "NEW PAGE IN MAORI HISTORY." Mr. Kenney, who spoke in English, said it was difficult not to feel grief or sorrow, yet he was sure Tiwi and others who had given their lives would not desire those at home to grieve for them: the sacrifice they made gladly and willingly. Rather they should feel pride and thanksgiving, that even in these dark days, men were willing to give their lives for a great ideal. The Rev. Te Muera, in an eloquent address in Maori,- said Tiwi Love had opened a new page in the; history of the Maori people. In the past the Maoris had basked in the glory of their forebears, but man could only be renowned as he hewed his own way through the forest of life. „.. At. the close of the service visitors were entertained at luncheon, and in the afternoon the hall was again filled. The chair was taken by Mr. M. R. Jones. INSPIRATION TO THE RACE. On behalf of his father and mother, Mr. Ral^h Love expressed gratitude to those who had come to pay tribute to the memory of his brother and others of the Maori battalion. His relatives had suffered'a sad loss, but it was a great joy that his passing had been as a leader of the Maori people in the light for freedom. The honour they were giving to Tiwi was really a tribute to all the Maori people who had passed over in the Great War. As a consequence of the sacrifice of these lives there would be a reawakening of the Maoris to the duty of preparing for the peace which would follow. Mr. Kingi Tahiwi said it was God's will that, at the summit of his youth, Tiwi should pass away, but his life and death would be a great inspiration to the Maori race to emulate him and put more power and more concentra* tion into the work of uniting Maori and pakeha in work for the common good. "The aim of the pakeha should be the aim of the Maori," he said, "their God our God, 'and their ideals our ideals." The Rev. Te Muera sang a Maori lament of his own composing in memory of Tiwi Love. Mr. Hopeha Winiera said he hoped every Maori between the ages of 16 and 40 would volunteer for service, and that the Maoris had a duty to keep up rural production. Mr. Te Ari Pitama declared his pride that in his small Village there were 60 men between 16 and 70, and of these 45 were overseas. If the Maori was to progress he must help himself, and the life and death of Tiwi was an example to every Maori. The final Maori tribute was paid by Mr. Tame Parata. BURDEN OF GRIEF LIFTED. Mr. Wi Hapi Love, father of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Love, said that the burden of grief had- been lifted off his shoulders by the wonderful sympathy of those present. Tiwi did not belong to his family, but to his country, both pakeha and Maori. His father and mother had matured him, but his country had made a man of him. Gratifying references had been made to the genealogy of the Love family. Tiwi 'had the blood of a Love and a Park as well as of his great ancestors of the Maori race, and this made him a unifying force for the joining Of pakeha and Maori, and that was what must be aimed at in. the future, for the two races stood or fell together. MINISTERIAL TRIBUTES. Speaking as Acting.Prime Minister, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan expressed the sympathy of the Government and the nation with the bereaved, and especially Lieutenant-Colonel Love's widow, paramount chieftainess of Rarotonga, and his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Hapi Love. The Hon. F. Jones read the cablegram from General Freyberg recording the promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel Love, and then the cable, sent four weeks, later, announcing his tragic • Others who paid their tribute were the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, LieutenantColonel Gorton, and Mr. G. P. ShepThe chairman mentioned that over 600 letters and telegrams, m addition to many cables, had been received by Lieutenant-Colonel Love's parents.