THE MAORIS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 319, 1 November 1915, Page 4

THE MAORIS.

MEN OF A FIGHTING EACH.

SOME TALES OF DABljfo. DEEDS.

j A dozen burly members of the Maori [ Contingent returned on the troopship which arrived at Wellington last week. They were Jaconic, and disinclined to speak of their exploits, as became warriors and the descendants of a warrior race. But nowhere else was the genuine aggressive fighting spirit and love of combat more strikingly evident than m the conversation of these men, when once.they get warmed up to irarratfve pitch. Their eyes lit up and they grinned with pleasure when tfcey told of a tight corner, a fierce rnslL rnd a strenuous resistance. There wa*. no doubt that the game was to their liking.

"Like a game of footbaD," said one big North Aucklander, with a bnllef embedded fn his hand, in reply to asuggestion. "Well, a lot better when; you got warmed.up to it. But war is not much fun for a start."

He supplemented this information by a description of the manner of his anil his comrades' landing. They embarked in open boats, and all was plain sailing: for 200 or .'SOO yards. The land appeared quite harmless, and gave r.o indication of the offensive forces that were- concealed on it. Then, as thevneared the shore, there were splashes* in tli water, and something chipped away a bit of the woodwork of the boat, and then one of its occupants fell!- forward »and lay still, and they rea.lisd' that they were 'having their first taste of the real thing. Under Fire. There were no false heroics about the manner in which the Aucklander told his tale. "I was frightened," he admitted; —"pale as a sheet,",he added, in laughing allusion to his brown cheeks, which nothing could whiten. "We were all frightened at the start. You couldn t. hit back, but .just had to sit there and wait for ft. Well, we got to the shore, and it continued. Now and then the shrapnel shell would come along, and soon we learnt what to do to dodge that, if possible—throw* ourselves flat on our faces and hope for the best. The shrapnel was awful." "The Maoris had a bad ran?" "Well, we lost a good few, rr he said. "The rest of us were distributed among other units, after our heavy losses on August Gth, 7th, and Bth." . It seemed that the Maori was a sad puzzle to the Turk. What used to worry the latter was the haka. Anybody who has seen and heard a body of Maoris at "Komafe, KomateJ" and! the rest of it, will understand what an , uncanny thrill it would, send up the spine of an enemy to whom it was a. complete novelty. When big things were in the air the Maoris would raise haka after haka, and the Turks in. nearby trenches had surely good excuse for calling out to Allah that cannibals were upon them. The Maoris liked using the bayonet. The hand-to-hand fighting was the thing for them. "It must have been

ike the days of our forefathers," said

the big Maori referred to. "We got our blood up, and went right into it

when we had a chance of sticking a bit of steel into them. This sitting and waiting for a bullet, or for a chance to fire a bullet—that was not. the same thing. Sitting in a boat *t the landing and not able to fire was no good at all—eoM feet on that." Tackled Him Low. He leaned over the rail, this big brown Aucklander. and scanned the faces of the spectators eagerly. *'l am looking for one of our officers who came back before," he said. "Captain Dansey—he was a great fighter. The chaps who knew him at home said, be used to fight the way he played: football—like hell! One day a big Turks jumps up ahead of him and levels a rifle at his head. But Dansey Just Sucks and goes for that Turk low down; and the bullet goes over his head, and the Turk goes to heaven!" Bayonet fighting in the dark seems to have been a nasty business. For »n----stanee, there was always the danger of mistaking your man. One night the Auckland infantry captured a trench well forward and held it. The Maoris, who were behind them, were unaware, in the dark, that the Turks had been dislodged, and, thinking that the trench was still manned by the- enemy, they prepared to launch an attack. ln» Aucklanders. aware of the mistake, hailed them in explanation; but Eng lish it seems, is common in the Turk , ji or^nootin o- nothing: ish trenches, and, saspec.tti* fcrf i *-\,a Arnoris held to cnnc but treachery, the Maoris x- tlipii one of the aucu determination. Then out, ftm . tWtlo . , -. i ti,n sense to say something; r d M,ori td The others fcalted. Lldt Turks have picked *£ New Zealand native t»ngue* Bnnflj not' Careful reconnaissance was made the'mistake was discovered, and what 4 ou M otherwise have been a headlong Cte and an awful error was averted. A Lucky Escape. v One of. the Aucklanders 'wits stand- J in£r by when the Maori told thi* ) storv. -Lucky for you you didn t attack tbat trench," he said, laughingly-»l-«cVr f-r von we didn't!" retorticd the Maori, also hugely amused. _ T> must be admitted that the Maoris I were the only men on the ship who seemed genuinely fond of flgUt for its own sake, TuOTB waa not one of ti*

-others, who did not strike-" the HthßVftfft \ as being fullof courage and a.stici;er, •determined to see it through. But The Maoris said, with real conviction, "By JovA I'll be glad to get back. You seftlvhen you get over the first fright, nt is good fun, especially the bayonet -charge. Yes, we want to get into it again.'' '