The citation for the Distinguished Conduct Medal awarded to Private Pa George Karika, New Zealand Rarotongan Company.
Sergeant Pa George Karika DCM
Pa George Karika enlisted in the second contingent from the Cook Islands. His command of English and the respect in which he was held by the other men saw Karika promoted to corporal when the group which became known as the Rarotongan Company left New Zealand in November 1916.
In Egypt Karika was promoted to sergeant. He served initially with the Eastern Force Ammunition Column and then, from October 1917, with No. 97 Heavy Battery, Royal Regiment of Artillery. In February 1918, Karika was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for ‘conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty while in command of a platoon.’
Karika was hospitalised in late 1918, returned to New Zealand and discharged. His DCM was presented to him in Rarotonga in March 1921. He was the only Pacific Islander in the NZEF to receive this decoration.
Pa George Karika went on to be prominent in farming, church and sporting organisations in the Cook Islands. During the Second World War he was a member of the Cook Islands Local Defence Force. He became a paramount chief on the death of his mother.
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