The Maori Pioneer Battalion.

On the 4 of August 1914 war was declared. The government decided to send eight thousand men to fight. The main group of soldiers were called the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. While soldiers were meant to be as old as twenty or older, some boys were as young as fifteen. They got into the army because most of the Maori did not have birth certificates.The Maori soldiers joined the army to help. Then they were known as Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu. Then in 1915 the men were sent to Gallipoli. At first the Maori soldiers were kept busy by digging trenches and building supply depots.The Maori's came to fight so they finally got their chance to go and fight. Too many Maori had already been killed at Gallipoli. Around the middle of 1917 the pioneer battalion was reorganised. The Otago men were replaced with around 470 soldiers. The battalion became known as the New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion. During the war 366 Maori were killed and more than seven hundred were wounded.They had seen their friends get killed and injured.Then at the end of the war the people of Belgium put up a Memorial on Anzac day 1925.