Thomas Matengaro Hetet

Born 1 Mar 1895 - Died 24 Jan 1960

Service number: WWI 16/445 AWMM
Also known as: Thomas Hetet AWMM
Tame M. Hetet AWMM
Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Last rank: Inter War Lieutenant/Military AWMM New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion AWMM
War: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Portrait of Thomas Matengaro Hetet in Army uniform 1914. Image kindly provided by whānau (February 2026) No Known Copyright Restrictions

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Biographical information

Thomas Tame Matengaro Hetet was a highly respected Ngāti Maniapoto Rangatira. Noted for his honourable military service and lengthy dedicated community engagement.

Born on 1st March 1895 he was educated at Te Kuiti High School and Auckland Technical College. He entered military service in 1915 by changing his date of birth. Early military training through Cadets and as part of the 16th Waikato Territorials saw immediate promotion to Second Lieutenant while training at Avondale. He was part of the First Māori Contingent, A Company under Captain Dansey and responsible for Platoon 2, and served in Egypt, Malta, Gallipoli, France and Belgium. He was sent back to New Zealand at the end of the August offensive on Gallipoli with Captain Dansey, Lieutenant Hiroti and Captain Pitt on spurious charges laid by Commanding Officer, Herbert and NZ General in Command, Godley. The charges were dismissed and he returned to the Western Front where he was twice wounded while undertaking sap work on important communication trenches. On his return to New Zealand he was rejected by officials in Auckland when he applied to command the 16th Waikato Territorials due to his Māori ethnicity. At his home in Te Kuiti he was an Interpreter and his leadership was acknowledged in the Borough Council finances where he was active for 21 years, the Anglican church as vicars warden, multiple sporting organisations, the R.S.A. and the Maniapoto Tribal Committee of which he was chairman. He was active in the Manchester Unity Lodge and was the first Māori to become Grand Master for New Zealand.

His community contributions to both Māori and Pākehā well-being were much appreciated. He was survived by a daughter Joy Mercia Grandison-Biggs and a son Achi Thomas Hetet. (Words kindly provided by John Hetet 2026, Profile written for “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 initiative by Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand).

Served 19 October 1914 - 4 May 1919; 4 years 199 days

Was well under age at the time of enlistment for WW1. Date of birth at Enlistment listed as 1893.

Promoted Lieutenant 21 November 1914

Prominent in the RSA

Service record states he held the rank of Lieutenant at discharge

Tuheka Hetet wrote from the front in August 1915 describing recent fighting involving the Māori Contingent. He records a night attack on Turkish positions in which “Tom” Hetet led his party effectively, alongside other Māori officers. The engagement involved close combat with bayonets and resulted in the capture of ground, though with heavy casualties. Hetet notes that many men were wounded and the contingent was significantly reduced in strength. He also describes Māori soldiers serving alongside Pākehā New Zealanders, maintaining strong morale and discipline, and receiving praise from senior command for their actions.

Source: “Letter from the Front,” King Country Chronicle, 27 October 1915. AWMM

Sources

External links: Te Ao Hou
http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/index.html
Sources Used
Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R16794832
Further Reference
Obituary: Te Ao Hou March 1960, p. 3. URL:
http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao30TeA/full.html
Further Reference
New Zealand Electronic Text Collection topic page
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-130522.html
Further Reference
Territorial File
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R22206822
Further Reference
BROTHER T. M. HETET, of Te Kuiti, the first member of the native race to hold office as grand master of the Auckland District, Manchester Unity Oddfellows, who was installed on Thursday evening. Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 61, 13 March 1937, Page 11
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19370313.2.115.2
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
LETTER FROM THE FRONT. King Country Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 817, 27 October 1915, Page 5
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KCC19151027.2.17
Further Reference
References: Roa, T., Paki, M., & Pūrekireki Marae. (2015). Maiea te tupua : whānau accounts of Waikato-Maniapoto World War One veterans and one conscriptee : commemorating 100 years of World War One. Pirongia : Pūrekireki Marae.
New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
Vol1: 326
New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
21: 42
Te Ao Hou
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. 2: Includes portrait
Soutar, M. (2019). Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Maori In the First World War. New Zealand: David Bateman Ltd.
McClintock, K., Turner, K., Searancke, M., Manawaiti, S., Meredith, P. (2024). Ngāti Maniapoto Ope Taua 1914 – 1918.
New Zealand. Army. 1st Maori Contingent. Scroll of the 1st New Zealand Maori Contingent, 1915. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-624.
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.
This record was part of “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 commemorative partnership between Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand, where service stories were shared onboard a dawn flight from Auckland to Sydney.

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.

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Thomas Matengaro Hetet