A document of National significance.
The signatures of 477 members of the 1st. Native Contingent of 1915 including my maternal grandfather Lance Corporal Maku Hale and his elder brother Sargeant Richard Hale both from Tolaga Bay on the East Coast.
In it's reference to the "wielder of the steering paddle" this document was a gesture of thanks to the captain of the SS Warimoo who conveyed the men of the 1st Maori Contingent to war leaving Wellington on the 14th of February 1915.
Sargeant Richard Hale was killed in action in Belgium on the Ypres Salient on the 14th. of August 1917.
Reference:
Auckland War Museum. Denis Clough archive
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