Haka Māori Pioneer Battalion Soldiers

History came alive in Gisborne on Saturday when the 100-strong guard of honour in the Maori Pioneer Battalion commemoration marched through the city in a stirring and emotional tribute parade. It commemorated 100 years to the day that 300 members of the battalion returned to Tairawhiti from World War One and were welcomed by “the Hui Aroha” at the racecourse. A man standing on the parade route by the police station summed it up simply. “What a spectacle. It’s just so moving,” he said with tears in his eyes. Many hundreds of people lined the parade route from Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae to Kelvin Park, where the crowd swelled to around 2000, including many families, on the lawn outside C Company House. The event included the second launch of Doctor Monty Soutar’s book on the battalion (see story on page 3). “This has been a fabulous occasion that gives