"LEST WE FORGET."

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue 9468, 15 October 1907, Page 5

"LEST WE FORGET."

TURUTTJRU MOKAL (By our Tokaora Correspondent.) The Hon. Robt. McNab is a compiler of New Zealand history, and his latest production relating to the southern part of our Dominion has received very appreciative press notice. As a Minister of the Crown he may be interested in some as yet unpublished facts relative to one of our local battlefields, Turuturu Mofcai. The general opinion I expressed to me by the old veterans i about this fight was that had the officers done their duty on that cold, frosty morning, the Queen's writ would have run through this coast twenty years sooner than it did. On this point I am not certain, but will try and place on record the few items I am possessed of. Later on other facts relative to this and subsequent events may be placed side by side and a true solution of the position arrived at. During the late eighties I was by occupation a farm contractor, and as such it fell to my lot to plough and work nearly all Mr John Mason's holdings near Hawera. One paddock containing about forty acres I ploughed several times, owing to its roughness. This is situated on the west side of Turuturu Mokai road, and about one mile from the borough boundary in a northerly direction. Crossing the Tawhiti stream a side cutting is negotiated, at the top of which the road turns to the north-east. Proceeding a few chains it takes another turn to the north and passes over a fairly high piece of country. It is not high, but appears so from our up-grade. Continuing along for a few chains we come ] to a hollow in the road, and now, looking back, we see the place where the Turuturu Mokai redoubt once stood, the western fence of the road passing through what used to be the east side of the redoubt fence. The redoubt was not built at right angles to the road. The road fence had to, be run straight, thus angling the redoubt, leaving the portion of that structure on the public road. Such was the Turuturu Mokai to me in '88. In starting to plough the paddock I was unaware of the nature of the structure I was levelling down.. To avoid having two headlands I turned with the plough several furrows on the bank, and with the spade and shovel soon had ditches filled in sufficiently to allow teams to pass over easily. On the south end I dug out the two door jambs with their massive footstep. The uprights had many bullets Indented in the hard wood, some of which I pricked out with my pocket knife. Bullets in all shapes I ploughed out, carrying pocketfulls home to Hawera, until the novelty died off. Near the gate or entrance I turned up an American axe, the handle still in but dry-rotted ; close by I also ploughed up a tomahawk with a splintered handle. These were buried in the land about three or four inches below the surface. My circle of Hawera acquaintances Avas limited, and of those to whom I explained about my peculiar find not one could give me any satisfactory explanation. But one day, when giving my team their midday repast, Mr James Cowper, a near-by settler, came along and explained to me my novel find. 'Never till then was I aware of the sacrilege I had been and was committing. Standing in the centre of the redoubt we had a good view of all the surround- \ ings, the day being beautifully fine. This is the story he told me: "In 1868 a stockade or redoubt was built where we now are. The place was pretty well covered with flax and fern. Up that valley to the north-west the Maoris stealthily crept until they came quite close to the redoubt, when they shot the sentry and rushed the place. There was a number of us settlers who used to come here at night and sleep for safety. When the firing commenced we all cleared over the Tawhiti creek, hiding in the flax on Mr Douglas' farm." Walking through where I nad dug up the door-posts Mr Cowper pointed out to me where Captain Boss' whare was located. Here was company 30-and-so's tent, and here the non-con» officers' quarters. Here was where we settlers Mere pitched, here the whare wherein Lemon, the canteen-keeper, was butchered. Here the canteen, and there the well. The latter I had discovered, for I nearly lost a horse down it, not knowing such a place existed. The canteen I also found, as the plough turned up all sorts of English-made jars and broken bottles. Where the troops were camped a public road passes through, leaving the redoubt on the west side, well, etc., on the east. This information caused me to think, and being a new arrival on this coast I was not posted up in war lore. I steadily from time to time, from old soldiers and reading, gained a good deal of information about Turuturu Mokai. I have known Captain Gostlett Johnston for nearly a quarter of a century. Only within the past month have I had a chat with him about this fearful death struggle. I wrote him suggesting he should refresh his memory, as I wished to interview him. He would almost as soon go through that fearful July morning again as to submit to be drawn. He failed to see anything heroic in the affair. All simply, from his point of view, who entered that redoubt acted on Nelson's famous signal. They did their duty — or died. MR COSTLETT JOHNSTON'S NARRATIVE. "We were busily engaged erecting the redoubt, but continuous rain from the south-ea3t delayed us, and made the inside of the place a regular quagmire. On the Sunday morning it came on to freeze with a keen but light wind. The inside of the fort was in such a } state that I asked permission from the ' commanding officer to do sentry duty outside. My beat was from the southwest corner by Captain Ross' whare to the north-east of the redoubt. My comrade on duty took the other two angles outside. We did not feel comfortable, as we saw a match struck about eleven o'clock at night in a north-westerly , direction. AH our men and settlers I could be accounted for, so we did not I like the look of things, and kept an . extra sharp watch. About 4 a.m. my | fellow sentry heard a rustling noise in ( the fern. He challenged and fired,* and a Tush was made for the redoubt. I took up a position in the north-east angle, where we expected the first assault to be made, and a few more joined me. Mr J. G. Beamish and others took up the south-east angle. In the

endeavor to get into the redoubt there was a general melee near the gate or entrance, where pakeha and Maori were mixed and fighting indiscriminately in the dark. Our men having been suddenly aroused were taken at a disadvantage, as their eyes were not accustomed to the darkness, and it was also bitterly cold. At this place many of j our men were killed. A Maori with a j tomahawk cut open our captain and i pulled out his heart. This he could I not get' away with; it was found near ' the entrance gate. The Maoris set fire to the whares. We could see them quite plainly, but as our place was not loopholed we could not shoot them, for no sooner did we raise our heads above the parapet than other Maoris further off shot us down. Poor Tuffin was shot in the head in this way. We did the best we could, momentarily expecting assistance from Waihi, which did not come until daylight. As the sun at that date did not ri«e until 7.17, and in this latitude there is no* much twilight, we had a pio-.tv hny trial of it." I here interposed and asked Wr Jobv ston if there was any truth ia tie current rumor that he thraa*-eneJ shoot any man who should attempt to run away. "Nothing of the kind," vvas the reply. "I was on sentry duty. My eyes were accustomed to the darkness, and seeing so many leaving — the surrounding unarmed settlers — I thought many of our fellows were leaving too. In the excitement and confusion I do not recollect the exact words I used, but seeing so many leaving I called out, "Boys, boys! Better be shot facing the enemy than that way I" Meaning, it was more honorable to die facing the foe than to be shot running away. For my part it took me all my time shooting Maoris without putting any of our fellows out of the road." "Shivering and shaking! Yes! All of us that were alive ! The mud was six inches deep, and in this we had to squat or kneel, and it was freezing bitterly." "Bub what about Yon Tempsky and the mounted troops at Waihi, only three miles off?" I asked. "About that you know as much as I I do. All I know is that "assist m ;e cid not arrive until long after it did Somebody blundered." The following is a list of the casualties incurred in this lamentable and unfortunate affair: — KILLED. Captain Ross. Sergeant McFadden. Corporal Blake. Constables Shields, Holden, Ross, A. Beamish, Swords, Gaynor and Simon. WOUNDED. Constables Lacey, J. G. Beamish, Kershaw, Flanagan and Tuffin. Out of that little heroic band 50 per cent, were killed ; of the balance 50 per cent, were wounded. It truly may le described as the Rorke's Drift of our Taranaki wars. British plu^k showed up, and by their brave stand averted greater bloodshed on the coast. Had that unfortunate blunder not o?cnrr. i at Waihi Titokowaru's mana would have been nipped and for ever stamped out cm this coast. It is a hard matter to arrive at what is really the truth about the unfortur.ate blunder. Major Yon Tempsky appeared to have great magnetic influence over his men and those who came in contact with him, as I find x"cryx "cry few old soldiers care to say a derogatory word against the Major. Mr James Cowan in a lengthy and able article on Turuturu Mokai hardly mentions Yon Tempsky' s name. Mr B. Wells, in his "History of Taranaki" (Edmondson and Avery, New Plymouth, 1878), page 273, thus refers to the matter: "At 4 a.m. n Sunday morning, the 12th July, the sentry 'inside' the redoubt saw a Maori creeping in the fern outside the ditch. . . . Challenged twice and fired. . . . On hearing the firing at Waihi Major Yon Tempsky and his men at once 'mounted' and started off in the direction of the redoubt." Looking impartially at the affair: Firing starts at 4 a.m., a mounted corps three miles away rides to the rescue, and gets there about 6.30 or 6.45 a.m. Two and a half hours' riding three miles, over fairly level and open country! Here is what happened. When the firing started Yon Tempsky, ever keen for a fray, ordered out the rifles. Being senior officer, he left the camp without giving instructions to a junior officer remaining. In the darkness Yon Tempsky and his men became entangled in points of native bush where Normanby now stands, hence the reason the troops did not arrive until broad daylight. Meantime, the non-com, officers of the mounted corps got everything in readiness, and in the darkness were ready to be off. They were kept back for instructions, but no orders were left. The junior would not take upon himself to let the mounted troops go to the rescue of their comrades, and gave orders to unsaddle and restable their horses. For this he was tried by court-martial and acquitted. On the following 6th November at Ok>ttuku he unnecessarily exposed himself and was shot through the fch«.£»i, fixrr. which wound he died. - Mavir Voi, Tempsky was killed at Te Ngafc'i n toManu in a hot fight there on Sep'e.ubftr 7th, 1868, exactly eight weeks .il'ter the Turuturu Mokai affair. I have endeavored to collect all the facts relative to' this fierce engagement; some I may have overlooked. One thing I know: If we as a young country have any veneration for those brave soldiers who have laid down their lives so that we here in Hawera may go about in peace, we should have a memorial erected on this historic spot, so that those coming • after us may know how, and by whom, this country was subjected, and recognise to some extent those few brave fellows who still live amongst us. I have a letter from the Tourist Department suggesting I should write up the history of the Turuturu Mokai fight and if possible draw the local responsible bodies into line to move in the matter Should a memorial be erected it would be brought under the superintendent's notice and a photographer sent up, so that this and the cairn erected at Ohawe by Captain James Livingston could be photographed and these historic places be inserted in the Department's itinerary to be visited later on by those tourists who may be historically inclined. I have received several letters from Mr C. E. Major, M.H.R., re Turnturu Mokai. In^ one he says: "I enclose herewith clipping from the New Zea-

land Times sent me by the Tourist and Health Resorts Department. I send it to you in order that you might write an article to the Stab, upon the subject. lam placing a question upon the order paper asking the Government to acquire this, and I hope I may succeed. Mr McNab, whom I have seen, is quite prepared, upon receiving a recommendation from any constituted local authority, to expend any necessary moneys in the preservation of military cemeteries and historic spots throughout New Zealand!"

I tried very hard to induce the Hawcra Chamber of Commerce to father such a proposition as suggested by Mr Major, but met with very indifferent support. Veneration for the "brave spirit that's gone" is evidently not their stronghold. "The opinion of the meeting was that it would be better to pass the letter on to Mr Major, M.H.R., who was considered to be conversant with the position." (Vide Star, October 5, 1907.)

I have often wondered if that axe and tomahawk I ploughed up close to the entrance gate to the Turuturu Mokai redoubt were left there by fencers and forgotten; or were they used on that fateful morning of July 12. From Captain Costlett Johnston's description of the muddy state of the place at the time, it may be possible they were then used, and in the rush and fighting of from 60 to 100 men were trampled into the soft ' mud, and so remained until turned up by the peaceful plough. Anyhow, the tomahawk was removed from my camp on Hastings road by Maoris some year or so after I turned it up. I remember one of them asking where I got it. ' The axe I re-handled, and it went into the peaceful occupation of chopping firewood. The bullets I cast into sinkers for sclmapper fishing, which were borrowed from me. I also turned up several Maori axes. I had a number of them in a box m my toolshop, Hawera. I intended presenting them to the Hawera museum, but some youths placed^ them in the vice and \vith a large hammer smashed them \xp just to see what was inside.

In a letter from Captain Johnston to me he writes: "In the articles 'Lest we Forget' the name of Tim Sheehan is mentioned as the last one buried in Mr Livingston's cemetery. Poor Tim! AYe were doing duty together at the same station in the Irish Constabulary. We resolved to go together to Australia. We resigned, but fate was against us. We missed coming by the same vessel, but afterwards met in the streets of Melbourne. He was a splendid specimen of a man, standing over six feet; a magnificent swimmer, yet the treacherous Waingongoro claimed him. Such is life."

Since starting this article I have revisited the Turuturu Mokai redoubt site. I find the bank and trench can be plainly seen, and a clump of thistles is visible where the well is located. A small plantation of pinus insignis, over twenty feet nigh, blocks the view from there to Hawera. A number of lambs were disporting themselves on the bank and trenches. Peace reigned everywhere, and t&e growth of grass was most luxuriant.

1 may mention that Mr Coslett Johnston has received a commission as captain. He informed me he was recently in Wellington, aioA when there a young man introduced him to Mr G. Tuffin, of Wanganui. They were mutually surprised, as they had not met since that memorable Sunday morning at Turuturu Mokai, oiearly forty years ago. After a long confab enquiries were made about the young man, each thinking he was a relative of the other. Neither of them knew him, yet he was well conversant with both their past histories. Tuffin had five wounds.

My first acquaintance with the cannibal warrior chief TitokowaTu was when he and his followers were doing what was known as the Jericho business on this coast during the early eighties. He led his followers to believe that by marching around the towns on this coast seven times the places would fall and the lands revert to the tribe again. At the time he was holding a big meeting at Manutahi. The late Dr. Croft, of Patea, introduced me. Mr W. Williams acted as interpreter. Grasping the one-eyed chief's hand was very much the same as gripping a huge, slimy frog.

The articles "Lest We Forget" passing through the Stab evidently have farreaching effects. Even our Navy have taken up the hint. From Northern papers I notice the Bailors ''from ELM. Encounter, at the old churchyard at Russell, have with characteristic energy cleared the whole place up and erected a- new teak monument over the graves of their brave brother sailors who were killed in the Maori War.

Mr James Cowan writes: "The name Turuturu Mokai is in itself a reminiscence of the savage days of 'Old New Zealand.' It means the stakes or poles on which dried human heads were set up, in public view, as relics of battle. The name is, strictly speaking, that of the ruined pa which stands near the redoubt ground. This pa is of large extent, with high, and massive walls, and was a celebrated fighting-hold in ancient days. Both it and the site of the fort where the white men 'held off' that terrible morning of '68 have recently been brought under notice of the Scenery Preservation Commission, and no doubt will be set apart by the State as 'tapu' spots, marking, as they do, one of the historic places in historic Taranaki."