Pou to remember Māori soldiers on Picton foreshore

Tuesday, 24 September 2019

A maumaharatanga (monument) will be erected on Picton's foreshore to commemorate the 28th Māori Battalion D Company, who served during World War II.

A permanent memorial to 'one of the most celebrated and decorated units' in the New Zealand forces during World War II will be erected on Picton's foreshore.

A 6.5-metre pou (post) will be installed as a maumaharatanga (monument) to the 28th Māori Battalion D Company, who served New Zealand between 1939 and 1945.

The work of wood and concrete will stand in the centre of a circular, paved footpath area near the Picton War Memorial, which is also located on Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui Trust's tupuna whenua (ancestral land), Waitohi Pa.

A Te Ātiawa report submitted on behalf of the 28th Māori Battalion D Company Te Tau Ihu (top of the south) Committee said about 16,000 Māori men enlisted for service during World War II, with 'some to never ever return home'.

* Obituary: Taranaki Māori health practitioner was a 'matriarch with mana'

* Top of the south Māori commemorate ancestors from 28th Battalion**

'The 28th (Māori) Battalion was one of the most celebrated and decorated units in the New Zealand forces by the time the Second World War had ended.'

Highlighted in red is the spot on Picton Foreshore where a new pou (post) will be erected in commemoration of the 28th Maori Battalion, who served during World War II.

The Battalion's D Company was made up of men from South Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatū, and the whole of the South Island.

Names of the fallen soldiers would be listed on granite or pakohe (argilite) tablets, and placed on the concrete base of the pou, which would be about 1.5m high.

Above the base would be a 2.5m four-sided tūpuna (ancestor) carving which would represent Ngā Hau e Whā, or 'The Four Winds', from which the 28th Māori Battalion D Company soldiers were enlisted.

Atop the carvings would be a flag pole, used to raise the 28th battalion's flag or flags of the nations where the Battalion fought or served.

Possible inspirations for the four sides were: Te Manu Toheroa, a Te Ātiawa chief; the New Zealand Army's Ngāti Tūmatauenga (tribe of the god of war); Rongo-mā-Tāne, the god of peace; and Ropoama, a former Māori chief.

Paving would be done around the pou in a labyrinth or koru (loop) style.

A korero (statement) would be placed at the site to explain its significance.

Te Ātiawa hoped to erect the pou in time for a dawn blessing (tānga kawa) on November 16, to align with the Battalion's national annual general meeting.

Consultation had occurred with Picton RSA and other Te Tau Ihu iwi (tribes).

The Marlborough District Council approved Te Ātiawa's plans at a full council meeting last week, and said no resource or building consents would be required.

Councillor Trevor Hook said he would put his 'full support' behind the pou project, as it was 'a living memory' and 'really important for Picton's people'.

A Tōtaranui Trust spokeswoman said the pou was separate to the sculpture it had proposed as part of national dual heritage commemorations in November.