Waretini Rukingi

I whānau mai i te 8 Apr 1894 - I mate atu i te 1 Sept 1915

Nama Hōia: WWI 16/62 AWMM
Ingoa kārangaranga: W.R. Kingi AWMM
Waretini Rukingi AWMM
Te Ope o Tū / te peka: Army AWMM
1st NZ Maori Contingent
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
Te tūnga whakamutunga: WW1 Sergeant AWMM New Zealand Maori Contingent AWMM
Pakanga: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Mātātuhi

Lay a poppy

Waretini Rukingi — Sergt W R Kingi [correctly W Rukingi], Maori Contingment, Wounded. Taken from the supplement to the Auckland Weekly News 4 November 1915 p040. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19151104-40-21. Image has no known copyright restrictions. No Known Copyright Restrictions

Whakaatu mai ngā āpure e wātea ana Hunaia ngā mātāwai kōrero

Ngā pakanga me ngā whawhai

Pakanga: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
Kauhanga riri: 1915-1916 AWMM Gallipoli AWMM
Egyptian -Gallipoli,
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
Te Ope o Tū / te peka: Army AWMM
1st NZ Maori Contingent
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
Nama Hōia: WWI 16/62 AWMM
Urunga ki te ope taua: 1914-1915
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
Whakapikinga / Tukunga / Whakawhitinga: —

Ngā tohu taumata rau ope taua

Mētara me ngā Tohu: Plaque & Scroll # 511488
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
1914-1915 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military record

Te Whakangungu me te Urunga atu

Whakangungu ope taua: —
Branch Trade Proficiency: —
Te urunga: WW1 Unknown AWMM
14 Oct 1914 in Gisborne
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military record
Pakeke i te whakaurunga: 20yrs
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military record
Mahi i mua i te ekenga waka: Student at Waerenga-o-hika School, Gisborne
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Miltiary record

Te maha o ngā ekenga waka

Taipitopito ekenga waka: WW1 14 Feb 1915-26 Mar 1915 AWMM
HMNZT 20 AWMM Vessel was Warrimoo AWMM Sergeant AWMM B Company AWMM 1st Maori Contingent AWMM

Whakapapa hauora

Tuhinga hauora: Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM

Te tūnga whakamutunga e mōhiotia ana

Te tūnga whakamutunga: WW1 Sergeant AWMM
New Zealand Maori Contingent AWMM
Te tūnga whakamutunga: —

Kōrero taurongo

Waretini Rukingi was the son of Rotohiki and Pinenga Rukingi, of Ohinemutu, Rotorua.

Next of Kin: Mr R. Rukingi, Ohinemutu, Rotorua (Roll of Honour, Auckland Province 1914-1918 (Volume 2)) AWMM
Dec 2014 - WHANAU TO MARK MEDAL’S RETURN

A CEREMONY marking the return of a World War l service medal will be held at Maruika Cemetery, Ohinemutu, on Saturday.
The medal is being return to descendants of Sergeant Waretini Rukingi who was killed at Gallipoli on September 15, 1915.
Sgt Rukingi’s whanau were alerted to the existence of the medal recently by a Taupo man, Ken Thackeray, who originally found the medal which was partially submerged in land under a house at Waipa in the late 1960s.
Thackeray, then working as an electrician, discovered the medal protruding from within the foundations of a house recently cleared for removal.
He kept it and, despite a polish and preservation over the years, the medal today still bears discolouration of the years it had been partly submerged.
Several years ago, he took the medal to Waiouru Museum to establish provenance, then bought from Trade Me the appropriate ribbon to which it was attached.
Several weeks ago, on taking his grandchildren through the Government Gardens, he noticed Sgt Rukingi’s name on a WWl memorial plinth.
Articles in Rotorua Review drew several inquiries.
In Rotorua, the descendants of the Sgt Rukingi, who had enlisted from Gisborne, were able to establish authenticity.
Thackeray said the guardians at Waiouru Museum had discovered that on the day Sgt Rukingi died, he was one of two New Zealand soldiers recorded as killed, leading to speculation he may have been claimed by sniper fire.
He said he felt humbled that recognition of his gesture had created empathy from within the Rukingi whanau and he was looking forward to Saturday’s ceremony.
‘‘Waretini Rukingi died just under 100 years ago today, but his memory is still very strong within his proud whanau,’’ Thackeray said.
‘‘I have never been to Turkey, let alone Gallipoli, but I have travelled to Northern France and to the New Zealand memorial at Longueval on the Somme, scene of the terrible battles in 1916/18.
‘‘On the base of the memorial plinth is inscribed, ‘From the uttermost ends of the earth’ – amazing when you think most young men in those days would have been lucky to have been as far from home as Auckland.
‘‘It would have been an impossible dream to visit the other side of the globe – a great adventure indeed – but of course, on arrival the dreams would have been shattered, unfortunately, pretty quickly.’’
Saturday’s ceremony, which starts with a mihi at 11am, includes the handing over of the medal and a walk by the graves of the brothers and nephews of Sgt Rukingi.
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Rotorua Review 3 Dec 2014
WWI medal finder seeks whanau - FINDER: Ken Thackeray is hoping to return the World War I medal he found nearly 50 years ago

A Taupo man is keen to return a World War I medal he found nearly 50 years ago at Waipa.
Ken Thackeray was working for the NZ Forest Service at Waipa Sawmill from 1965-1970 when, in clearing a housing site of electrical cables, he noticed a piece of medal protruding from the ground.

On inspection, thinking it was a gold coin, he discovered it was war service Victory Medal and on the rim was etched "18/62 Sgt W Rukingi". He put it aside for safe keeping.

As this year was the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities, Thackeray decided to add the correct ribbon colours to the medal as they would have been earned by Sergeant Waretini Rukingi of the first Maori Contingent, B Company, which embarked in Wellington on February 14, 1915.
Rukingi's parents were listed as Rotohiki and Pinenga Rukingi, of Ohinemutu. Two brothers, Private Henare Rukingi, who served with A Company 1st Maori Contingent, and Corporal Pini Rukingi, Maori Contingent, served with the 4th Reinforcements to Egypt. It is believed both men survived the war.
Thackeray's find was given further impetuous three weeks ago after visiting Rotorua's Government Gardens.
"We were in Rotorua with our grandchildren when I wandered over to the WWI memorial out of curiosity. On looking at the list of names I saw Rukingi second from the bottom.
"When I checked it was the same man whose name was on the medal," Thackeray said.
Finding the medal some 50 years ago was equally astounding.
"I had to clear all the electrical cables and so on, from the old Waipa staff village site, after the houses were removed/demolished," he said. "I saw the medal in the dirt, sticking out of the ground. I picked it up, thinking it was a coin. I didn't know what it was, but thought at the time, this could mean something to somebody. I took it home thinking one day I could find out who they were.
"This year, being the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War in 1914, I remembered the medal.
"After finding it, I purchased the correct ribbon online and eventually asked at the Waiouru Military Museum if they could help."
Checking their records, the museum told him that Sgt W Rukingi was killed in action on September 1, 1915, at Gallipoli. He was buried at the Embarkation Cemetery near the beach, at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli.
The medal had obviously been embedded in the ground for many years at Waipa, as the part that caught Thackeray's attention remains shinier today.
He is keen to find Rukingi's whanau in the Rotorua area, so the medal can be returned.
"I would like to return their ancestor's medal to them," he said. "If no-one can be found, the medal will be given to the museum for permanent display. This brave man needs to be remembered."
Though from Rotorua, Rukingi enlisted in Gisborne, Thackeray discovered. phil.campbell@fairfaxmedia.co.nz
Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/10565605/WWI-medal-finder-seeks-whanau

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Waretini Rukingi

Waretini Rukingi

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Waretini Rukingi

Waretini Rukingi

Tuakiri

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