THE OLD WAIHI REDOUBT

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 17 September 1924, Page 6

THE OLD WAIHI REDOUBT

(By “Kaukake.”) In a recent article in tlie Star referring to a photo of the above fortificaticnij it was stated that it would be difficult now to locate the site of this military camp of the early days. As one who, as a small boy, resided there for some months in the winter of 1879, I make no doubt that I could still trace the precise outlines of the old stockade without difficulty, although it is many years since I was on the spot. And'there niust .be dozens of others in South Taranaki endowed with sufficient faculty of orientation as to be able to rediscover the site of the camp where Von Tempsky’s bugle pealed and McDonnell’s drums rolled nearby 60 years ago. Undoubtedly Mr Fred. Riddle, for instance who 'has lived in the vincinity since childhood, could guide an enquirer to the exact spot unwaveringly. In the year 1879 the attitude of the local Maoris became so threatening that it was deemed advisable for families residing outside the township of Normanby to move into the shelter of the Waihi fort, whilst the ablebodied males remained behind in that then frontier settlement to erect a small sod fort, situated on the site of the present Victoria Park. This was occiipied and garrisoned by the local militia (many of whom are still resident in the district), and a strip of hush some three chains, wide was felled through Mr Crocker’s property so that an unobstructed view could he obtained between the two forts of Waihi and Normanby.

Other families besides, that of the writer who took advantage of this military protection at Waihi were the Riddles, Hills, Bawsons, Coltarts, Roberts, Hatties, and others whose names I cannot new recollect. Most of the fugitives resided in cottages hastily erected for their occupation, ours being thatched and walled with raupo reeds, and very neat it looked and comfortable it was within. Small, as it was. its shelter .was shared by another family, that of Mr, Hill, our school teacher, and “guide, ohilosopher, and friend.”

As near as I can recollect from a memory blurred with the mists of 45 years, the lort' was a rectangular structure of wooden planks of 'balk timber, embedded in the ground and rising eight or ten feet above its level. Outside the walls a deep fosse 1 or ditch had been dug to further hamper the progress of an attacking party, and the plank walls were loopholed for musketry fire. The palisade, which enclosed. nearly half an 1 acre of ground, was situated, on the highest elevation in the neighbourhood, and about 50 feet above the level of the Waihi stream, which flowed in a parallel direction, and distant about five chains from, the southern wall. At the extremity of this wall and near its western termination a wooden staircase, with a flight of some 30 steps, connected with the cook-liouse, located on the flat below, where also were the cottages already mentioned. : The main J entrance to the reduobt was by a large gateway, heavily planked, in the micl- | die of the western wall: Opposite this gate, on the rising ground some chains away, was the residence of the officer-in-charge, Captain Roberts, who had under him at the time I write about 300 Armed Constabulary, or A.C.’s, as they were popularly termed. At-the corner where the northern and eastern walls joined rose the • wooden watchtower. mentioned by your contributor, Mr Lloyd.. This was a structure of heavy upright planks some 20 feet in height, with a look-out platform on top, not unlike a Turkish' minaret, access to which was obtained by a ladder staircase within. This tower, if mv memory serves me right, fell with a crash in a heavy gale in 1884. The dormitories of the men, with the guard room and other buildings, were built close- in around the inside walls, leaving a clear space in the centre, after the style of a French farmhouse. A deep well, fitted with a force pump, had been excavated within the enclosure to supply water for the camp, and the rediscovery of this bore (if not entirely filled in) would indicate with certainty the exact site of the fort, which lay about a quarter of a mile due west from the present Waihi Cemetery. This graveyard occupies the identical site of the original cemetery, and towards the end of the ’seventies there were quite a number of monuments to : the dead interred there. Most of these were fashioned from wood, generally totara, and consequently, as ; indicated by your contributor “.Fiftyone” in a former article, are not now in situ. Among these were memorials to Captain Fredk. Ross (killed at Turuturu-Mokai), to Major G. F. von Temp sky (slain near Matapu), to Constables Cahill, Squires and Clarke (murdered by the natives while pitsawing for the fort, but only, it is fair to state, after repeated -warnings to desist); and also to several civilians. One of .the most ornate of these monuments, I remember, bore the wellknown .text with the majestic invitation: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour,” etc., hut who was thus commemorated I am not now able to distinguish. The little cemetery was almost overlooked by an ‘ old Maori pa which rose behind it, and a» few chains away to the east was situate the bathing pool for the garrison of the fort, who had dammed up the Waihi stream at this point. Among such a number of young and picked men as composed the Waihi garrison there*were bound to be some I fine athletes, and one in particular, J. Packer, was reputed to be one of the fastest runnel's in the province. On days of leave the men would generally drift down to Normanby, then an extremely busy little place, and their advent usually tended to considerably enliven the life of that township. The late ex-Sergeant G. V. Riddle held a command at Waihi foi* many years, and resided near the spot up till the time of his death within the last decade. Sergeant Hattie was another officer whose name I recall, his quarters being to the west of the fort, and near the extensive vegetable garden cultivated by the men.

It w-as from Waihi that the historic expeditions to Turiituru-Alokai, to Rua-Runi, and to Tc Ngutu-o-te-Alauu were despatched, and it would seem meet- that the site of these operations should be rescued from the oblivion of the sheep fold, and marked by some recording tablet ; or at least that the position, of the former fortress should lie indicated clearly by a fenced enclosure to all desirous of studying local history.