The Ngarimu Victoria Cross Investiture Meeting and Reception to His Excellency the Governor General, 6 October 1943.
On 4 June 1943 news was broadcast world-wide that 2/Lt Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu had been awarded the Victoria Cross for his role in the attack on Point 209 at Tebaga Gap, Tunisia. It was the sixth VC to be awarded to a New Zealander in the war, and the first to a Maori soldier.
The public investiture ceremony where the Governor-General presented the award to Mr & Mrs Hamuera Ngarimu was held at Whakarua Park in Ruatoria, Ngarimu’s home town. At the time it was one of the largest and most fully documented Māori gatherings ever held.[1] Despite the rain and mud, 7000 people attended the event, including the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians, Battalion members on furlough, Home Guardsmen and 1300 schoolchildren, who came from all parts of the country. Three hundred performers had been brought together from the Gisborne district alone. Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Porou, led by Sir Apirana Ngata hosted the event that featured five hours of entertainment. Members of the National Film Unit, the official Government photographer - John Pascoe, and the press documented the event. Cameramen from the US Marine Corps also headed to Ruatoria to record the event. Read more about the event here.
This recording of Weihana Delamere was made on the morning of the investiture at Whakarua Park.
Transcript
Sir AT Ngata: Mr Weihana Delamere. Speaker for Te Whanau-a-Apanui. (inaudible) Kia ora koutou.
NSP 7
Weihana Delamere: On this most unique occasion in the history of our people and I might say also in the history of New Zealand I, on behalf of the Whanau-a-Apanui people and the two canoes of the Mataatua and Te Arawa, welcome Your Excellency to this centre of the East Coast district. You are here, sir, as a representative of his Majesty the King who has been good enough, through feats of valour by members of the Maori Battalion, has been instructed to bestow those tokens of bravery first of all to the parents of the late Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu and also to some of the officers of the Maori Battalion. And we thank the government for making this occasion a national occasion and I think it is rightly so too. Our people have volunteered and are still prepared to volunteer till the end of this war is attained. Actually I do hope that the Maori Battalion will be one of the first regiments to enter into Rome, and than into Berlin and afterwards into Tokyo. I therefore, Sir, on behalf of my people welcome here, welcome here today.
E nga iwi o te motu tatau tatau i tenei ra i te mea ko te honore kua homai nei ki runga ki tamaiti he honore mo tatau mo te iwi Maori. Engari tenei huihuinga whakaminenga nui o tatau o te iwi Maori nui tonu haramai enei whakaaro ki roto, “He aha a muri? He aha a muri?” Koira te taonga hei whiriwhiritanga ma roto i o tatau ngakau i tenei ra e hui nei tatau katahi hoki tatau ka hui te iwi Maori nui tonu (inaudible). “He aha a muri?” Na reira e nga tamariki i hoki mai nei i te pae o te pakanga tena koutou i o koutou hoa i mahue atu ra i a koutou nga mea ora me nga mea mate. Ae, koa ana hoki toku ngakau pikopiko nei to tatau kaumatua i tenei ra. Koia katoa o matau whakaaro. Ka taea hoki e tatou te whakaki to tatou ope mehemea ka hiki tahi o tatau hau e wha o te motu. Na reira kia ora koutou katoa.
Site editors notes:
- There is intermittent static throughout the audio
- A question mark (?) after a word indicates audio is inaudible
Sound file from Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright.
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