Story: Ngā pakanga ki tāwāhi – Māori and overseas wars

Tipirere postcard, 1915

Tipirere postcard, 1915

This 1916 postcard bears the words and music for 'Tipirere', the Māori version of the popular marching song, 'It's a long way to Tipperary.' Copies of the postcard were handed out to members of the Māori Contingent Reinforcements who marched through the streets of Wellington on Saturday 18 September 1915, before embarking for the front. The postcards were issued by the National Reserve Headquarters, Wellington, and distributed by Colonel Thomas Porter, commandant of the reserve, a veteran of the New Zealand wars of the 1860s. The Native Contingent was dubbed Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū (the two-times-70 warriors of the war god Tumatauenga) by Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki chief Wī Pere, from the traditional name for a group of warriors.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Eph-B-POSTCARD-Vol-12-003-btm

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Monty Soutar, 'Ngā pakanga ki tāwāhi – Māori and overseas wars - Māori contingent in the First World War', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ephemera/36681/tipirere-postcard-1915 (accessed 24 April 2024)

Story by Monty Soutar, published 20 Jun 2012, updated 1 May 2016