pioneer battalion

Māori and the First World War

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  Māori reactions to serving in the First World War largely reflected iwi experiences of British actions in the 19th century.

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• Page 1 - Māori and the First World WarMāori reactions to serving in the First World War largely reflected iwi experiences of British actions in the 19th

Māori in the NZEF

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  More than 2000 Maori served in the Māori Contingent and Pioneer Battalion during the First World War

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• Page 3 – Pioneer Battalion

  In early 1916 the Maori Contingent ceased to exist and was replaced by the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion.

• Page 4 – On the Western Front

  The New Zealand Pioneer Battalion arrived in France in April 1916. It was the first unit of the New Zealand Division to move onto the bloody battlefield of the Somme.

• Page 5 – Further information

  Further information about Māori in the First World War.

Pacific Islanders in the NZEF

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  Cook Islanders, Niueans, Fijians and Gilbert Islanders all took their place in the ranks of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War. As well as the dangers of war, Pacific soldiers faced language difficulties, an unfamiliar army diet and European diseases.

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• Page 3 – The Rarotongan Company

  Information on the New Zealand Rarotongan Company, which served in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns 1916-18.

Māori and Pacific units

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  Māori and Pacific troops served mainly as non-combatants at Gallipoli, the Western Front and in Sinai-Palestine during the First World War.

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• Page 2 - Māori unitsFormation and organisation of the Maori Contingent and Pioneer Battalion during the First World

NZ Railways at war

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  The railway system and its workforce was one of the most valuable assets available to the New Zealand state to support the national effort during the First World War

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• Page 4 - Railwaymen in the NZEFMore than 5000 permanent NZR employees served overseas during the war, about 40% of the 1914