Apu Tepuretu

Forenames

Apu AWMM

Surname

Tepuretu AWMM

Service number

WWI 16/1222 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Birth

1893 AWMM

Date of birth

b. 1895

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 17 June 2024 - Military Record

Place of birth

Rarotonga

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 17 June 2024 - Military Record

Birth notes

Son of TEPURETU of Avarua, Rarotonga

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 17 June 2024 - Military Record

Address before enlistment

Avarua, Rarotonga

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 17 June 2024 - Military Record

Next of kin

WW1 Tepuretu (father), Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Islands AWMM

War

World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Campaign

Battle of the Somme AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

WWI 16/1222 AWMM

Enlistment

WW1 Labourer/Civilian AWMM

Embarkation details

WW1 05 Feb 1916 AWMM
HMNZT 42 or HMNZT 43 or HMNZT 44 AWMM Vessel was Ulimaroa or Mokoia or Navua AWMM Corporal/Military AWMM Rarotongans, attached A Company AWMM Maori Contingent AWMM

Medical notes

Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

WW1 Private AWMM
New Zealand Pioneer Battalion AWMM

Son of Tepuretu and Miriama of Avarua, Rarotonga, Apu Tepuretu was the first Cook Islander killed in France. AWMM

Death

30 Sept 1916 BDM NZ1918/59601
Age  19 AWMM

Cause of death

Killed in Action AWMM

Cemetery

Quarry Cemetery, Montauban, Somme, France AWMM II. H. 3. AWMM

Memorial name

Cook Islands Roll of Honour Board, RSA Rarotonga AWMM

Related Serviceperson

External links

• Military personnel file
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R7824919
  Further Reference
• New Zealand Electronic Text Collection topic page
  http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-130790.html
  Further Reference
• Losirene Lacanivalu, 'WW1 soldier made ultimate sacrifice', Cook Islands News, 4 October 2016
  http://cookislandsnews.com/national/local/item/61036-ww1-soldier-made-ultimate-sacrifice/61036-ww1-soldier-made-ultimate-sacrifice
  Further Reference
• A Street Near You record
  https://astreetnearyou.org/person/245604/-
  Further Reference
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
  https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/245604
  Further Reference
• Manava Toa: the Cook Islands in WWI
  https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/stories/blog/2019/manava-toa-the-cook-islands-in-wwi?lang=en-nz
  Further Reference
• Pine, Madison. Year in Review: Online Cenotaph 2019. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira. First published: 11 December 2019
  https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/features/2019-online-cenotaph
  Further Reference
• Cook Islands Online Cenotaph
  https://www.cookislandsonlinecenotaph.com/
  Further Reference

References

• New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
  25: 2
• Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications
  Vol. 3: Includes portrait
• Soutar, M. (2019). Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Maori In the First World War. New Zealand: David Bateman Ltd.
• Information kindly provided by family
• This record was partially compiled from information kindly provided by Bobby Nicholas, Paula Paniani and Cate Walker, Cook Islands Military History Research Project
• Weddell, H. (2016). Soldiers from the Pacific : the story of Pacific Island soldiers in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War One. Wellington, New Zealand : Defence of New Zealand Study Group.
• Pugsley, C. (1995). Te Hokowhitu a Tu : the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the first World War. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed.