Kiri Rapona
Born 1887 - Died 29 Sept 1916
- Service number
- WWI 16/525 AWMM
- Also known as
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- New Zealand Maori (Pioneer) BattalionPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military Record
- Last rank
- WW1 Private AWMM New Zealand Pioneer Battalion AWMM
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
- PrivatePublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military record
- Forenames
- Kiri AWMM
- Surname
- Rapona AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- —
- Service number
- WWI 16/525 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Religion
- Church of EnglandPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military Record
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 1887 AWMM
- Date of birth
- —
- Place of birth
- Mangatu, Whatatutu, near Te Karaka, GisbornePublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military record
- Birth notes
- —
- Address before enlistment
- Pre 11 Jan 1915 AWMM Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- Pita Rapona, Mangatu, Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM
- Brother - Pita Rapona of WhatatutuPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military record
- Relationship status
- Pre 14 Feb 1915 AWMM Single AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
- Egyptian & Western EuropeanPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military Record
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- New Zealand Maori (Pioneer) BattalionPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military Record
- Service number
- WWI 16/525 AWMM
- Military service
- 1915-1916Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military Record
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
- 1914-1915 Star
British War & Victory MedalsPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military record
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- WW1 11 Jan 1915 AWMM Labourer/Civilian AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- 27yrsPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Military record
- Occupation before enlistment
- —
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 14 Feb 1915-26 Mar 1915 AWMM
HMNZT 20 AWMM Vessel was Warrimoo AWMM Private AWMM B Company AWMM 1st Maori Contingent AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- —
- Days interned
- —
- Liberation date
- —
- POW liberation details
- —
- Liberation Repatriation
- —
- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
"On 9 September, whilst on the Somme, Kiri Rapona received gun shot wounds to his head. His injuries necessitated immediate transfer to England. He died of his wounds on 29 September." (Church, p.61) AWMM - Died of wounds, Cause of Death AWMM
- Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW1 Private AWMM
New Zealand Pioneer Battalion AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- "Private Kiri Rapona, 16/525, died at Brockenhurst." (Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F. October 16, 1916 p. 77)
"Initially Maoris were not allowed to fight with the rest of the New Zealand force and Kiri Rapona left Egypt on 5 April for Malta where he was posted for garrison duty. He embarked for Dardanelles on 30 June, and he was one of 477 men of the New Zealand Maori Contingent who arrived at Anzac on 3 July. They were attached to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and were sent to No.1 Outpost, which became known as the "Maori Pa". Their tasks entailed levelling terraces, digging roads and bringing water tanks ashore. By August the authorities had realised that the Maori would make excellent fighting soldiers so from then onwards they were placed on reserve to fight. In mid October Kiri Rapona was appointed as a Cook. The evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula began on 8 December and the Maoris were withdrawn to Imbros Island (fifteen miles away) and rested. Kiri Rapona fell ill on 27 December and sailed on the Huntsman from Mundros Harbour, Lemnos to Egypt for hospitalisation. In due course his unit reached the Western front." (Church, p.61)
Next of Kin: Mr P. Rapona, Whatatutu, Gisborne (Roll of Honour, Auckland Province 1914-1918 (Volume 2)) AWMM
About death
- Death
- 29 Sept 1916 AWMM
- Date of death
- —
- Age at death
- 24yrsPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/kiri-rapona
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Died of wounds AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- Brockenhurst (St Nicholas) Churchyard, Hampshire, England AWMM Plot A, Row 5, Grave 8 AWMM
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- Private Kiri Rapona, recently reported wounded, has since succumbed to his wounds. He was a Gisborne member of the Maori Contingent, and a son of Pita Rapona, Mangatu.Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 3 June 2023 - ROLL OF HONOR.
GISBORNE TIMES, VOLUME XLVII, ISSUE 4365, 9 OCTOBER 1916, PAGE 7 - Memorial name
- Te Karaka War MemorialPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 23 September 2015 - Research
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Gisborne War Memorial AWMM
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 1 Hall of Memories AWMM
Related objects
Sources
- External links
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R20804206
Further Reference - New Zealand Electronic Text Collection topic page
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-130732.html
Further Reference - Website: No 1 New Zealand General Hospital, Brockenhurst
http://southernlife.org.uk/nzindex.htm
Further Reference - A Street Near You record
https://astreetnearyou.org/person/362607/-
Further Reference - Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/362607
Further Reference - Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20201108000000/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-CowMaor.html
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- References
- Church, C. (2002). New Zealand graves at Brockenhurst : 93 New Zealand soldiers remembered from World War One. Hampshire, England: Author.
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
Page No: 603 - Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F.: Records of Matters Concerning the Troops and Gazette of Patriotic Effort [London, England] : New Zealand War Contingent Association, [1916-1919]
Chronicles of the NZEF, 16 October 1916, page 77 - New Zealand. Army. 1st Maori Contingent. Scroll of the 1st New Zealand Maori Contingent, 1915. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-624.
- Soutar, M. (2019). Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Maori In the First World War. New Zealand: David Bateman Ltd.
- Roll of Honour, Auckland Province (digital copy), 1914 - 1919. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2016-2.
- Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
- Pugsley, C. (1995). Te Hokowhitu a Tu : the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the first World War. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed.
The development of the Online Cenotaph is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.
Online Cenotaph Data by Auckland War Memorial Museum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.