Diary entries

10 July 1915

Dear diary, most of the soldier’s are dead from the intense fighting. The soldiers' death was caused by either getting wounded or from attracting a disease to their own body. It was such a common thing for the troops to either live from getting one of  their limbs removed off of their body or dieing from the disease they attracted to their own body. I also found a tiny corner between one of the caves so I hopefully brought some time for myself and the team. I have to leave pretty soon because I have to go out and continue fighting for my country. I think I can hear someone walking into the cave. I have to be prepared to fight them just in case it’s an intruder.

Yours Sincerely Ngarangi

    

19 July 1915

Dear Diary, I haven’t written for quite a long time. The war is still carrying on and most soldiers feel like quitting because they're tired. Today I went back to the cave to write letters to my parents and to also write in my Diary. Today I almost got shot in the rib-cage but thankfully I dodged the bullet but one of the other soldiers got shot and died from the bullet instead. I still feel bad for them but I’m not quite sure on the dead part but hopefully they survived because he got shot in the stomach and all of their blood was pouring out like a waterfall but not alot of blood. I am also feeling like quitting because I can’t risk getting shot again because I can’t dodge all the bullets. I’m gonna complain because we fight for our country but we get nothing in return. It's like having a birthday but getting no cards or presents.

 Yours truly Ngarangi

 3 August 1915.

Dear Diary, we had new recruits now everyone is mainly exhausted but they should be energetic ever since we started that plan. The plan was that half of the troops go to sleep during the day and fight during the night and the other half  fights during the  day and sleep throughout the night. It was a good sleep until the turkish started  firing cannons and aimed straight for our half of the land. It was smoke cannons but the cannons made a lot of noises. Some of my friends sent me some supplies for mail day; they baked multiple Anzac cookies. I will always remember the letters that I wrote to my parents but they haven’t written to me in 6 months. Hopefully they're safe and are in a good condition. My sister also sent me a letter saying she is having a baby girl soon. I  felt proud of her but hopefully she is proud of me for fighting for her and  the rest of the family.

Love from Ngarangi

15 September 1915

Dear Diary, I got one of my friends to write in my diary today. Because I got shot in my arm, right now I'm lying down in my hospital bed. My Nurse is Eliza and I just call her Liz for short. I am also gonna stop fighting for like 5 or 7 days for my right arm to heal. I got a letter from my parents that's the only good news that I heard from anyone. My sister sent me a picture of her baby girl. She named it after me Ngarangi. My parents said they haven’t written any letters because my Father was sick and ill so my Mother kept on looking after my Dad so she had no time to write a single letter to me because his sickness kept on getting worse and worse that my Mother got ill as well. But luckily they weren’t sick anymore. So that’s another good thing that happened. I gotta go now to rest up. Bye now.

Love from Ngarangi

 

My tupuna and why I will remember them

During ANZAC weekend I learnt about my tupuna.

My great granddad, Tiaki Parata, was a Lance Corporal and part of C Company of the 28th Māori Battalion.  C Company was one of five companies within the 28th Māori Battalion. C Company was formed by volunteers from Tōrere around the East Coast to Muriwai taking in the tribal groupings of Ngāi Tai, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Māhaki and Ngai Tamanuhiri.

My great granddad is from Te Whānau a Apanui, which also makes me Te Whānau a Apanui.

My great, great, great granddad, Henare Mokena Kohere, was a Second Lieutenant and part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces and Maori Pioneer Battalion.  On 14 September, while taking part in one of the night raids during the battle of Somme, Henare was wounded.  Peter Buck, a major in the battalion, visited him, asking 'Kei te pehea koe, Kohere?' (How are you?) 'Ka nui te kino' (Things are very bad), Kohere replied. He is buried in France.

My Papa Henare Mokena Kohere was a man of dignity who was held in high esteem and greatly respected by all ranks of the armed forces. A great tangihanga held by Ngati Porou mourned his passing. He is honoured by many marae throughout Ngati Porou. A waiata tangi composed by Sir Apirana Ngata for the Maori soldiers of the Pioneer Battalion refers to the East Coast contingent and to Papa Henare Kohere; it became very popular throughout all tribes:

E te Ope Tuarua,	The Second Party
No Mahaki rawa,	Came from Mahaki,
Na Hauiti koe,	From Hauiti also,
Na Porourangi.	And from Porourangi,
I haere ai Henare	When Henare went
Me to “wiwi.”	And his “wiwi.” (“Wiwi,” a Ngati-Porou colloquialism, meaning a party of young people.)
I putu ki te pakanga,	With misfortune they metPAGE 79
Ki Paranihi ra ia.	On the plains of France.
Ko wai hei morehu,	Was any left to bring
Hei kawe korero,	News and message
Ki te iwi nui e.	To all at home?
Taukiri e!	Alas! alas!

For ANZAC this year, I created paper Poppies using coffee filters and food colouring and paint to dye the paper.

After I made the poppies, I wrote a few of my favourite words from The Fallen poem by Laurence Binyon and I wrote my Papa's names and their rank and which World War they fought in.

I then decorated my room with the poppies so I can remember my Papas.