Kaitaia's war memorial has a story to tell, of those who gave their lives in war and the communities they came from.
Kaitaia's war memorial has a story to tell, of those who gave their lives in war and the communities they came from.
Plans are well in hand for the publication of a book, to be written by local historian and author Kaye Dragicevich, recording the story of Kaitaia's war memorial, erected in 1916, and the relationship between Maori, Pakeha and others in the community.
One of the prime instigators, Vietnam veteran RayBeatson, said the book would be of significant historical, cultural and heritage value, locally and nationally.
It was envisaged that it would provide a record of the the Mangonui County communities - Awanui, Fairburn, Herekino-Whangape, Houhora-Waiharara, Kaingaroa, Kaitaia, Mangonui, Peria, Pukepoto, Pukepoto-Ahipara, Takahue, Te Kao and Victoria Valley - over the period leading up to and including 1914-1918, along with contemporary information.
It was planned to publish before November 11 next year, the centenary of the armistice that brought World War I to an end.
One thing that is lacking, however, is photographs of many of those communities' fallen soldiers. Richie Taaffe, another of Kaitaia's Vietnam veterans, said he hoped marae would be able to provide at least some, but there were still a lot of gaps.
Alfred Manuel de Andrad (Herekino), James Adams (Maori Pioneer Battalion), Thomas Henry Hodgson (Motukaraka), William Gillott, Charles Benjamin Denny (Awanui), Thomas Henry Fletcher, Paki Conrad (Awanui), Clark Clark (Pamapuria), Kenneth Robert White (Awanui), Harry Wells (Kaingaroa), James Passell, Victor Ivan Powell (Herekino), Wiremu Ratana/Ratea, Joseph James Frank Smith (Herekino), Frederick Williamson (Whangape), Robert Hyslop Fryer (Kaitaia), Matthew Peetewiki Hadfield (Awanui), Reginald Michael Hill (Kaitaia), James Hurley (Awanui), Rapata Wi Kanara (Awanui), Ben Kiri (Awanui), Charles Henry Popata (Awanui), Taylor Walker (Pamapuria), John Reeves Aldred (Houhora). Sidney Coulson (Houhora), George Davis (Houhora), Alexander Duncan Gordon (Waiharara), Arthur Norman Hackney (Waiharara), Patrick Heath (Ahipara), Percy Hebden (Houhora), Albert John Lingar (Houhora), Frank Daniel Mahoney, Tuke Rini Matia (Waiharara), John Oscar Olsen (Waihopo), David Francis Smith (Houhora), William Alfred Thomas, Alfred Edward Thomas, Walter Bartley (Mangonui), Richard James Campbell (Mangonui), James Harrop (Mangonui), Peretiti Hetaraka (Mangonui/Awanui), Albert Cyril Houston (Mangonui), John Leo (Mangonui), Henry Cecil McNamara, George Leslie Penney (Mangonui), Hopa Tiini (Peria), Hurae Hetaraka, John Povey, Walter Weber Thompson (Mangonui), Patrick O'Donnell (Takahue), Rata Brass, Perenara Rewi (Pukepoto), Hapi Waaka (Te Kao), Kopa Waru (Whangape), Hohepa Waaka (Waihopo), Tawhai Busby (Mangonui), Arama Mete Keepa (Te Kao), Gordon Wallace (Victoria Valley). Anyone who can help can contact the Northland Age.
