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Whaea Pia - My Uncle Nikora with his cousin's who joined him in 30th Maori Battalion

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Whaea Pia - My Uncle Nikora with his cousin's who joined him in 30th Maori Battalion

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Whaea Pia - The letter from my Uncle Nikora

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Whaea Pia - The letter from my Uncle Nikora

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My great-grand Uncle Nikora Bell served in Egypt as a part of the 30th Maori Battalion. Unfortunately, he didn't come home. He wrote a letter to my great-grandmother. Below are photos of my Uncle Nikora and his letter. He was very clear in not wanting my great-grandfather to join him.

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Amelia & Reuben Edlington                    Our Great Great Great Uncle Walter Lewis Bettridge was killed in action during World War One. He left home in April 1918 and spent 6 months serving in the war. He died just one week before the end of the war. Walter was a rifleman in the 3rd Battalion in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He died during the battle to liberate the town of Le Quesnoy on the 4th of November 1918 . The anniversary of that battle was 100 years ago last Sunday. Our Great Grandfather was named Walter after him and our little brother has Walter as his middle name.Both of our Great Great Grandfathers also served in World War One.George Arthur Bettridge spent 3 1/2 years serving in World War One but returned safely home at the end of the war. He was only 22 years old when he left home.Humphrey Bentley Haddow was injured in France after 2 years of fighting and sent back home to New Zealand in 1917. He was only 17 years old when he left home.        

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Amelia & Reuben Edlington                    Our Great Great Great Uncle Walter Lewis Bettridge was killed in action during World War One. He left home in April 1918 and spent 6 months serving in the war. He died just one week before the end of the war. Walter was a rifleman in the 3rd Battalion in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He died during the battle to liberate the town of Le Quesnoy on the 4th of November 1918 . The anniversary of that battle was 100 years ago last Sunday. Our Great Grandfather was named Walter after him and our little brother has Walter as his middle name.Both of our Great Great Grandfathers also served in World War One.George Arthur Bettridge spent 3 1/2 years serving in World War One but returned safely home at the end of the war. He was only 22 years old when he left home.Humphrey Bentley Haddow was injured in France after 2 years of fighting and sent back home to New Zealand in 1917. He was only 17 years old when he left home.        

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My Great grandfather Jacob Hilton Knapp was in the NZ army.  He joined the army on the 14th February 1942.  He was part of the 32nd battalion and was part of the Second NZ expeditionary force which was to fight alongside the British Empire in World War II.  While fighting in Italy he was wounded in his hip from shrapnel.  After enduring some time in hospital in Italy he returned home on the hospital ship  "Oranje" in August 1945.  After the end of  WW II ended he was discharge from the army the 16th November 1945. Because of his wounds he was unable to return to working on a farm instead took a job at a sawmill.

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Here is an example of the letters Richard sent to Alice while he was in France.

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This is my almost great grandfather, Richard Grace. He proposed to my great grandmother, but unfortunately, my great grandmother's family did not accept the proposal. He then went to Scotland to study to become a doctor. When World War 1 happened, he joined the Māori Battalion as a medical soldier and served as a doctor. Even though my great grandmother's family didn't let him marry her, he wrote her letters throughout the whole 4 years he was at war in France (1914-1918). He also kept a sketch book and drew pictures of the things he saw happening around him. My mum now has all of the letters Richard wrote to my great grandmother, Alice, and put them into a book so my family can read about what life was like in the war.

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My grandfather was in the Navy in World War 2. He was part of the shore patrol assigned to look out for Japanese submarines attempting to come in to New Zealand. His "patch" was Point Howard in Lower Hutt. His family home was on top of a cliff overlooking the harbour and my mum (now 80) can still clearly recall watching her father from a window in the house, walking up and down the beach, binoculars at the ready.

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My father Robert Garbutt was in the NZ Army's 25tth Battalion in the second world war. He was a shepherd on a farm in the South Island and was quite young when he joined the army. When he went overseas he was first sent to Egypt to finish his training then he was sent to Italy. In Italy he was part of the NZ forces that were caught up in the Battle of Monte Casino. It was a really desperate and fierce fight with many men losing their lives. During the battle my father and a number of his comrades were sheltering in a big crater when a mortar bomb landed amongst them. Their commanding officer was killed and the rest of them were quite badly wounded. My father was taken to hospital where he was nursed back to health. When I was growing up my father never talked to me about the war but he did go to ANZAC Day every year. That must have been his way of remembering. I remember though that Dad didn’t have great hearing, that was aresult of the blast from the mortar bomb, and he still had metal fragments in his back because the doctors couldn’t get them all out. My nephew has my father’s medals but I have photos of him. He is the one in the middle.

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This is my great-grandfather Corporal Walter Mabe taken in 1918 just before he was due to be shipped out to the middle east with NZ cavalry regiment . He had lied about his age so he could enlist in the cavalry. Fortunately armistice was declared before he was shipped out. He was 17 years old in this photo.