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Story: The New Zealanders

Pioneer Battalion, 1918

Pioneer Battalion, 1918

Some Māori were keen to be accepted as part of the New Zealand nation, and hoped that participation in the First World War would confirm their membership of the British Empire and the nation. A Māori contingent went to Gallipoli and was subsequently re-formed as the Pioneer Battalion to serve on the western front, where 336 men were killed. Here the battalion performs a haka before the visiting prime minister, William Massey (right), and his deputy Sir Joseph Ward.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association Collection

Reference: 1/2-013282-G

by Henry Armytage Sanders

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

Jock Phillips, The New Zealanders – Maorilanders, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1938/pioneer-battalion-1918 (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 May 2015.

Comments

Hine Te Ata Hoko
24 February 2011
Kia Ora, I have been checking through the WW1 army records where my husbands uncle served in the 1917 Maori Pioneer Battalion and need to correct some information that is wrong. In 2007 my late husband first identified this information as being incorrect but did not have the time to rectify and unfortunately he passed away in 2008 due to a hunting accident. So I have now picked up this challenge to ensure that the war records are correct. Can you tell me how I can achieve this task? and on what website? Thank you