Articles
Māori and Pacific units
Māori and Pacific troops served mainly as non-combatants at Gallipoli, the Western Front and in Sinai-Palestine during the First World War.
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Page 3 – Rarotongan Company
Rarotongan and Niuean recruits were included in the NZEF’s Māori units durng the First World War
Palestine campaign
The British invasion of Ottoman-held Palestine in 1917-18 was the third - and last - campaign launched by the Allies against the Ottoman Turks in the Middle East during the First World War.
- Page 2 - OverviewVictory in Sinai led to pressure from the British government, led by new Prime Minister Lloyd George, to invade Ottoman-controlled Palestine in
Pacific Islanders in the NZEF
Cook Islanders, Niueans, Fijians and Gilbert Islanders all took their place in the ranks of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War. As well as the dangers of war, Pacific soldiers faced language difficulties, an unfamiliar army diet and European diseases.
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Page 3 – The Rarotongan Company
Information on the New Zealand Rarotongan Company, which served in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns 1916-18.
Pacific aftermath
Participation in the First World War changed Pacific Islanders' lives. Returning servicemen had seen the world.
- Page 3 - Troop repatriationWhen the armistice was signed in November 1918, Pacific island troops in New Zealand service were stationed in a number of
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Main image: Rarotongan soldiers visit Melbourne
Seven members of the second Cook Islands contingent (11th Maori Reinforcements) photographed with their commanding officer, Lieutenant G.A. Bush, on the steps of Melbourne Cathedral, 27 November 1916.
