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Presentation of the British Empire medal to John Penfold during the investiture ceremony on 13th of September 1947 at Uepohatu marae. Seventeen decorations were presented to service men and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

The gathering was an important one, attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Presentation of the British Empire Medal to Hiria Tangaere during the investiture ceremony on 13th of September 1947 at Uepohatu marae. Seventeen decorations were presented to service men and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

The gathering was an important one, attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Presentation of the Insignia of a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire to District Health Nurse Isabella Banks during the investiture ceremony on 13th of September 1947 at Uepohatu marae. Seventeen decorations were presented to service men and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

The gathering was an important one, attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Mrs Hinehou Tureia receives the insignia of a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire during the investiture ceremony on 13th of September 1947 at Uepohatu marae. Seventeen decorations were presented to service men and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

The gathering was an important one, attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Presentation of the Insignia of a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire to Merekaraka Waititi during the investiture ceremony on 13th of September 1947 at Uepohatu marae. Seventeen decorations were presented to service men and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

The gathering was an important one, attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

A third speaker, from Taranaki, addresses the gathering during the pohiri at Uepohatu Marae, Ruatoria in 1947.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall. The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. 

A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

At the Investiture held on the second day, seventeen decorations were presented to servicemen and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The gathering was an important one. attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Transcription

Nga mema nei tena koutou, nga iwi tena koutou, nga iwi o te motu tena koutou. E Api, tenei ra to reo kua tae atu, rongo mai te kakara, ta tatau tamaiti a Moana-nui-a-Kiwa me tona whaea Materoa i te (unknown). Kua mate to koroua, Rangiwhakateka. Tera Hiruharama ki tenei Hiruharama. No reira Hemi? Hemi? Karanga atu ki nga iwi o te motu. Tena koutou, tena koutou.

Heoi ano te take i tae mai ai tera pito o te Tai Hauauru, a, koia tenei te ra i karangahia nei. Kati noa nga korero i nga e korerotia nei, he whakatu he whare mo a tatau tamariki i nga toa o te pakanga. Kua tu toku whare whakairo, whare karakia, mo nga tama toa, na to tatau matua nana i whakawhetai. No reira, i runga i te mea kua karangatia mai nei tenei tenei pito o te Tai Hauauru.

Tena koutou te puku o te Ika. Taranaki tatau i haere mai nei. Tenei ra i  haere mai nei ki te tautoko i to tatau koroua, i nga taonga i ruia nei e ia nana nei ki runga i a tatau. Tenei a tatau tamariki, ko au e kii ana, kia mapu tatau haere mai. Hare mai ki runga i tenei ka tu ko nga kainga hou ma nga tamariki. Kaua e tatari kia mate tetahi katahi ka mahi ai tatau. Haere mai tatau ka wahawaha nga tira. No reira tena koutou, tena nga iwi o te motu kei te nui tatau hei korero no reira tena koutou nga iwi katoa. Ki a tatau tamariki, ahakoa kua mutu te pakanga, e takoto mai nei nga putake o te (unknown), nga ??.

Kia a tatau tamariki, kia rongo te (Eotota?) kia tangihia, kia mihia. Kia tangi ki a ratau, kati ka tu reiti i te ra nei kaore i tae mai, o tatau kaumatua. Tena koutou, tena koutou. Kati nei tena koutou.

[Crowd applause]

Hemi, e Ngata, to kotiro a Heni ka nui te mate [words indecipherable] 

[Audio cuts out]

Unidentified performers sing 'Kia ora Porourangi e' during events held at Uepohatu marae, Ruatoria in 1947.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children, the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall, a reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion), a concert and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. 

At an investiture ceremony held on the second day, seventeen decorations were presented to servicemen and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The gathering was an important one, attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Transcription

Kia ora Porourangi e

Nau nei te karanga

Nga iwi haere mai!

Kia ora Porourangi e

Nau nei te karanga

Nga iwi haere mai!

Tae mai to reo pohiri e

Haere mai e nga iwi

Tina e tu nei e!

Hauru ana te whenua

Mataku ana mai

Te whakaeke o nga ope e

Porourangi kia kaha ra

Aue Hi!

Anei o iwi e tau nei

Manaakitia ra te Uepohatu

Tahi, rua, toru, wha! Hi!

Speaker: Whakapotae?

Performance of the song ‘Tu nei ko te whare' during the opening of the War Memorial Hall at Uepohatu Marae in 1947.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children, the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall, a reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion), a concert and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. 

At an investiture ceremony held on the second day, seventeen decorations were presented to servicemen and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The gathering was an important one, attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Transcript

Kaea: Kia rite.  Tu nei ko te whare, torono kei waho
Katoa: Tu nei ko te whare Uepohatu
He maharatanga ki nga hoia
Kei tua o nga ngaru, kei tawhiti nui
I te whawhai mohou, moku, mo te ao

Haere mai ra te kawana
E nga iwi haere mai ra
Kia manaakitia koutou
E te Uepohatu haere mai

Kaea: Toru, wha (ano)

Kaea: Tahi, rua, toru, wha
Katoa: Hi

Lieutenant Colonel Arapeta Awatere gives the opening speech at the reunion of ex-service personnel at Uepohatu Marae in 1947.  See the programme here.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. 

A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

At the Investiture held on the second day, seventeen decorations were presented to servicemen and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The gathering was an important one. attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Transcript

[beginning indecipherable]...Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here tonight for this special reunion of ex-service personnel, to commemorate the official opening of Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  A memorial dedicated to the memory of peoples of both races and of both sexes who served in the war of yesterday and yester year. 

Today the Ngati Porou people who are acting as your hosts on this auspicious occasion, welcome you, to this outpost of New Zealand. A place which is very dear to our hearts because it is a place where all the people try to do their upmost to meet any difficulty or any occasion which the country may demand at any time. So from the tip of old Hikurangi mountain, the Olympus of Maoridom, right down this famous Waiapu valley.  All the voices of our kaumatuas who have gone, who are buried in their graves, mingle with our voices, the voices of their descendants today in welcoming you all, from the East, to the West, North, South – nau mai, haere mai, haere mai. 

I will now call upon Captain Waipaina Awarau to give the toast, Absent comrades.  After which Lt Kaika will blow the Last Post followed by the Reveille.  And after that an item will be given by Te Hokowhitu Party ‘Arohaina Mai e te Kingi nui’. 

Ladies and gentlemen Captain Waipaina Awarau.

The group Te Hokowhitu a Tu from Tokomaru Bay perform the song 'Arohaina mai' at a reunion held for ex-service personnel at Uepohatu Marae in 1947.  See the programme here.

'Arohaina mai' was composed by Tuini Ngawai after the farewell to soldiers at Waiparapara.  “On her way home … overcome by the emotion of the occasion, sat down by the roadside to rest…the words came to her mind, complete.  She wrote them down then and there.” (Soutar, Nga Tama Toa, p.73)

It is sung to the tune ‘When Love Walked In’.

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. 

A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

At the Investiture held on the second day, seventeen decorations were presented to servicemen and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The gathering was an important one. attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Transcript

Lt-Col James Leggat (ED) gives the toast to the Armed Services at the reunion of ex-service personnel at Uepohatu Marae in 1947.  See the programme here.

Leggat served with 22 Battalion in the Second World War.  Prior to the war was a school teacher and headmaster.  On his return he took up the position of headmaster at Gisborne High School. 

The marae hosted events held on the 12th and 13th of September that included cultural competitions with local school children and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. 

A reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion) was also held. 

At the Investiture held on the second day, seventeen decorations were presented to servicemen and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The gathering was an important one. attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Transcript

This is a toast that in such a gathering as this, you won’t need much incentive from me. You either are or have been members of the Armed Services. And with no encouragement from me there will be no stint or lack of enthusiasm in honouring the toast. Coupled with this toast are the names of Lady Freyberg and Colonel Dittmer. Colonel Dittmer, Colonel Dittmer’s name will always be linked with that of the Maori Battalion. (cheers) He is the Pakeha who shaped it first and gave it direction with what results you all know.  At first as some of the boys know he was relentless in the pursuit of efficiency, but he got it.  And always outside of the Battalion he was jealous and sensitive for the honour of the boys that he commanded.  No finer voice could speak for our New Zealand war effort Maori and Pakeha, Middle East and Pacific than Colonel Dittmer. 

Some of the boys here might remember in the early days having to find a meal in Cairo in the Effies or Naafis.  Do you remember when the New Zealand club started?  When you could go along there and you had table cloths. When New Zealand girls came along and they spoke to you in New Zealand voices. They didn’t call out to you ‘George’ from the other side of the room. (laughter) The club that reminded you of home, where sometimes you could have whitebait, where sometimes you could have mussels – if you were lucky.  Where if you were tired of Stella you might buy New Zealand beer. All these home touches just didn’t come by themselves, they were inspired.

There, if you went to hospital, you boys will remember, the New Zealand girls who treated you in a masterly and in a masterful way they knew what you were doing. I think sometimes they even knew what you were thinking. (laughter) For all these good qualities of hard working conspicuously, of trying to do the best that could be done for the New Zealand soldier, you see represented in Lady Freyberg. (Applause) You may remember her, as I do, industriously cutting piles of ham sandwiches for the troops coming back from the desert. You might’ve known of her personal interest in every New Zealand soldier that passed through. Well ladies and gentlemen I think that in herself she epitomised all the good work New Zealand women did overseas and that was second-to-none.

So in linking Lady Freyberg and Colonel Dittmer to this toast, ladies and gentlemen I’d ask you to charge your glasses and drink to the toast of the Armed Services [some chatter] - the Armed Services.

'Taku ripene pai' performed by Taiporutu Maori Club from Rotorua at Uepohatu marae in 1947.  The Club was founded in 1944 by Henry Taiporutu Mitchell to revive the language, customs and performing arts of Te Arawa.  Members also contributed to the community; visiting hospitals and performing for distinguished visitors including members of the Royal family and Eleanor Roosevelt.[1]

The events held at Uepohatu on the 12th and 13th of September included cultural competitions with local school children, a reunion of ex-service people (including members of the Maori Battalion), a concert and the opening of the Uepohatu War Memorial Hall.  The hall was built to commemorate East Coast soldiers who died during the two World Wars. 

At an investiture ceremony held on the second day, seventeen decorations were presented to servicemen and women who had served abroad and on the home front.

The gathering was an important one, attended by thousands including the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition Sidney Holland and other members of Parliament.  Sir Bernard Freyberg, the Governor General opened the hall and unveiled two memorial tablets inside.

Footnotes
[1]Programme for the Taiporutu Club, 1947. MSX-4248. Alexander Turnbull Library