MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 June 1940, Page 9

MAORI MEMORIES

OKAIHAU PA. (Recorded by J.H.S., of Palmerston North, • for the “Times-Age.”) At Okaihau Pa in four days and nights of rain our men were sorely tried and half their cartridges were wet. The Maori allies bared their shoulders and dried their flax mats at the fires for which Kauri gum was an ideal fuel and light in the wet. Our men had no tents,"but Maori ingenuity provided shelters of Nikau palm fronds for all Maoris. The pa stood between the lake and the forest making approach on three sides difficult. Colonel Hulme gave an order for open attack, but Waka Nene knowing what was before them dissuaded him. Hone Hapi, one of our allies, made a brave entrance to an ingenious ambush of the enemy armed with tomahawks, otherwise we would have been annihilated. This enabled our men to attack in the rear and drive the enemy into the pa at the point of the bayonet. In the still night the enemy chanted the evening hymn in tones of sweet music rising to Heaven as from martyrs fighting for their faith. With no food, little ammunition and no artillery, we were driven off with ’l4 killed and 39 wounded. With white head bands to distinguish them from the enemy, our friendly Maoris lessened the sufferings of our wounded and saved the lives of several by constructing excellent Maori litters (kauhoa) worthy of a modern Red Cross company. Three things astonished and excited a feeling .of respect for the enemy in the minds of our newly arrived soldiers. The Maoris did not ambush us on our difficult journey to or from the scene of battle. They buried our dead and brought Christian Missionaries to read the service. They did not wear our coveted uniforms, but burned them with ceremony.