Waretini Rukingi
Born 8 Apr 1894 - Died 1 Sept 1915
- Service number
- WWI 16/62 AWMM
- Also known as
- W.R. Kingi AWMM
- Waretini Rukingi AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- 1st NZ Maori ContingentPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
- Last rank
- WW1 Sergeant AWMM New Zealand Maori Contingent AWMM
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
- SergeantPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
- Forenames
- Waretini AWMM
- Surname
- Rukingi AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- W.R. Kingi AWMM
- Waretini Rukingi AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 16/62 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Religion
- Roman CatholicPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 8 Apr 1894 Public Source
- Date of birth
- 8 April 1894Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Miltiary record
- Place of birth
- Rotorua, NZPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Miltiary record
- Birth notes
- Son of Wharetutaki Rukingi Haupapa and Pinenga Ruiha KopiPublic - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 9 April 2024 - https://www.geni.com/people/Waretini-Haupapa/6000000046556608950
- son of Rotohiki & Pinenga RUKINGI of OhinemutuPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Miltiary record
- Son of Wharetutaki Rukingi Haupapa and Pinenga Ruiha Kopi
- Address before enlistment
- Unknown AWMM Waerengaahika, Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- Mrs Pinenga Rukingi (mother), Ohinemutu, Rotorua, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- Pre 14 Feb 1915 AWMM Single AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
- 1915-1916 AWMM Gallipoli AWMM
- Egyptian -Gallipoli,Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- 1st NZ Maori ContingentPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
- Service number
- WWI 16/62 AWMM
- Military service
- 1914-1915Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
- Plaque & Scroll # 511488Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military Record
- 1914-1915 Star
British War Medal
Victory MedalPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military record
- Plaque & Scroll # 511488
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- WW1 Unknown AWMM
- 14 Oct 1914 in GisbornePublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military record
- Age on enlistment
- 20yrsPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Military record
- Occupation before enlistment
- Student at Waerenga-o-hika School, GisbornePublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - Miltiary record
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 14 Feb 1915-26 Mar 1915 AWMM
HMNZT 20 AWMM Vessel was Warrimoo AWMM Sergeant 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
- Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW1 Sergeant AWMM
New Zealand Maori Contingent AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- 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.nzPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 February 2016 - http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/10565605/WWI-medal-finder-seeks-whanau
- Waretini Rukingi was the son of Rotohiki and Pinenga Rukingi, of Ohinemutu, Rotorua.
About death
- Death
- 1 Sept 1915 AWMM
- Date of death
- —
- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Killed in Action AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Turkey AWMM Special Memorial C. 80. AWMM
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- —
- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Rotorua War Memorial (World War 1) 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/R20808506
Further Reference - A Street Near You record
https://astreetnearyou.org/person/605968/-
Further Reference - Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/605968
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
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
Page No: 634 - 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.
- Waite, F. (1919). The New Zealanders at Gallipoli. Auckland, N.Z.: Printed and published under Authority of the New Zealand Government by Whitcombe & Tombs.
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
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