Tūrou Tūrou `Oro Mai
Tata tonu e 500 ngā Kuki Airini i whawhai mō Aotearoa i te Pakanga Tuatahi. I whakaharahara tā rātou whawhai, erangi he tini ngā mate. Kimihia atu anō he kōrero e pā ana ki ngā hōia toa nei, hei āwhina i ngā mōhiotanga mō rātou ki runga i te New Zealand National Digital War Memorial Te Tuihono Maumaharatanga.
Image credit: Group photograph of Corporal Apu Tepuretu, Corporal Anthony Manuel, Private Angene Angene, Raitia Tepuretu on cannon. Image kindly provided by Teke`u Framhein via Kees De Boer.
He kōrero whakaharahara, whakahere tūnga hōia te kōrero mō ngā Kuki Airini i te Pakanga Tuatahi. Ko tētahi o ngā rohe iti i roto i te Emepaea o Piritana, tere tonu tā rātou urupare ki te tono kia whakauru rātou ki ngā tūnga hōia, tāria te wā ka tukuna e rātou e rima ngā ope ki te pakanga (hui katoa e 500 ngā tāngata). He mea whakahōia hei whakakaha ake i ngā ope Māori, he maha ngā taitama o te moutere i whakauru tūao i te pakarutanga o te pakanga ahakoa tonu te kōpaka o ngā ihu oneone me te kōmutu ohaoha. I tua atu o tērā, ka tere whakatūria he Pūtea Āwhina ka maringi mai ngā moni hei tautoko i te wheta o te riri, hei tauira, i kohia i Mangaia te ōritenga o te utu ā-rangi mō ia tangata o te moutere. (Scott)
I muri o te whakangungu i Aotearoa i te Taupahī o Narrow Neck i Devonport, ka wehe atu ngā Kuki Airini tuatahi i Aotearoa i te 13 o Oketopa 1915 mā runga i te SS Te Anau, ka tae atu ki Ihipa i te wā e whakawhiti ana ngā tira o Aotearoa ki Te Pae o te Riri Ki te Uru. Ka whakatōpu ki ngā hōia Māori me ngā hōia Pākehā o Te Ope Pōkai Whenua, kāhore i roa ka uru atu rātou ki te taimaha hārukiruki o te riri i te whakaekenga o ngā Hoa Whawhai ki Elers i te pakanga tuatahi ki Somme i te marama o Hepetema 1916. Ahakoa te mārakerake ki ngā puhipuhi a te hoariri, i āwhina rātou ki te hanga i te awarua rongonui nei a ’Turk Lane’ e 8 kiromita te roa mai i Elers ki Delville Wood – i muri iho o tērā ka āwhinatia e rātou ngā kaikari awarua i Arrass. Ahakoa ngā whakapātaritari whakaharahara pae o te riri me te Takurua o Uropi, i tino kaha ngā hōia nei ki ā rātou mahi nā tērā ka mihia e Meiha Peter Buck (Te Rangihīroa) mō tō rātou ihu oneone i raro i ngā tūāhu uaua.
I tū hōia ngā Ope tuarua, tuatoru hoki o Kuki Airiani i te Middle East, wāhanga o te kauhanga riri o Sinnai-Palestine tuatahi, hei rōpū hāngai ope taua mō ngā Australia me ngā New Zealand Mountead Rifles i tō rātou taupahī i Moascar, i muri i tērā hei toha hāmanu mā te Royal Artillery. Nā te nahanaha me te here pūmau ka eke anō rātou ki te panekiretanga o ngā mahi inā noa te mahi manu tāiko. E whakamanahau whānuitia ana tō rātou pukumahi me te pakari o ngā tinana i puta ai te kōrero i tētahi āpiha, kotahi te hōia Kuki Airini hei mahi i te mahi ka taea e ngā hōia Pākehā tokotoru. Hei tauira: e 30 ngā tāngata i tango, ka uta anō e 800 ngā 45 kirokaramu kariri mai i te tereina ki ngā taraka i roto i te 30 meneti. I ētahi atu wāhi nā tō rātou tere me tō rātou māia ki te whakatere waka whakarato mai i ngā kaipuke whakarato ka kore he mahi mā ngā ihu oneone tāngata whenua, ka whakatuma rātou ki te taraiki (Weddell). Waimarie he mea whakatū he Kamupene Rarotonga wehe mō ngā hōia i te marama o Oketopa 1917, ahu atu i te roanga o te pakanga, ka noho pūmau te tira nei hei wāhanga o te Royal Artillery i roto i te British XXI Army Corps.
Heoi anō, haere tahi me te kōrero mahi whakaharahara ko tērā o te whakahere tino nui. I roto i te Ope Tuatahi, tokotoru ngā Kuki Airini i mate i te hoariri, tekau i mate i te urutā ka mutu i whakatāuteute ngā tāngata ki te noho i raro i ngā āhuatanga noho o Ūropi. He maha atu anō ngā aitua i muri iho o te pakanga i te hokinga mai o ngā tāngata ki te kimi oranga mai i ngā urutā o Ūropi ki Aotearoa e pokea ana e te urutā rewharewha. He maha te hunga kīhai i ora ake, mate noa mai i Aotearoa, te hokinga rānei ki te kāinga i ngā tau te heke iho. I mate a : Kāpara Iti Robert (Bob) Ngapo ki Tautu, Aitutaki ( anei te whakaahua) i Tāmaki Makaurau i te mate pūkahu kakā, ko Paraiwete Tuakana Atama Akeau ki Manihiki (anei te whakaahua) i mate i te mate kohi i ngā moutere i te tau 1924. Tokorua noa iho ēnei o te tini i whakahere i o rātou tinana ki te mura o te ahi. Ka eke te pōautinitini ki ngā whānau, erangi kore rawa ō rātou ingoa e warewaretia.
Ki te whakahōnore i te tūnga hōia me te whakahere o ngā hōia Kuki Airini ki te whakatūturu hoki ā, kia kore ai ā rātou kōrero e warewaretia, e tono ana Te Whare Tāonga o Tāmaki Makaurau i ngā whānau me te tūmatanui kia tāpiritia ā rātou pūrongo me ā rātou whakaahua ki te Tuihono Maumaharatanga, te maumaharatanga matihiko ā-motu o Aotearoa.
Ngā mihi nui ki a Ma’ara Maeva mō ngā tohutohu e pā ana ki tēnei pito kōrero.
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