The Samoan Advance Party returns

Some of the 70 members of the Samoan Advance Party who returned to New Zealand on the Monowai in September 1914. These men were ‘somewhat surprised’ that only a few people were present to welcome them in Auckland, where public access was restricted by the shutting of the Queen’s Wharf gates. [1] The ship’s subsequent arrival in Wellington was unexpected and ‘hardly a soul’ was waiting for them on the wharf. [2]

 [1] New Zealand Herald, 14 September 1914, p. 6
 [2] Dominion, 15 September 1914, p. 6