Exercise Kiwi Venture 1988

To celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the Battle of Rangiriri a party of 12 from 94 Bty from 45 Regiment RA stationed in Colchester traveled to New Zealand to take part in a joint British and New Zealand Army & Maori Ceremony of Remembrance and thanksgiving on the Battlefield.

On the way we traveled by road, air, train and sea, finally following the route of General Cameron's Expeditionary force up the River Waikato by canoe.

New Zealand Land Wars

It was at the Battle of Rangiriri in the little know New Zealand land wars that the then "C Battery 4th Brigade Royal Artillery became the third Gunner unit to boast Two Victoria Crosses, an honour still held by only a very few Batteries. When the battle for Maori redoubt was at a virtual stalemate, General Cameron ordered the Gunners to assault using their revolvers and sabers, as these were more effective at short range than the rifles of the Infantry. This extraordinary tactic although not winning the day is believed to be the reason why the Maoris began evacuating and the rear party surrendered the following morning. In all four members of the battery died and two were wounded in that assault, including the Battery Commander, and it was in rescuing the dying and the wounded under heavy fire that Lt Pickard and Temple won their Victoria Crosses.

Exercise Planning

A party of four from the Battery attended the 100th anniversary of the Battle and it was decided that for the 125th anniversary a larger party should attend the Remembrance Ceremony and revitalise the links the Battery and 45 Field Regiment have with 16th Field Regiment RNZA and the Maori people.
Planning commenced over a year before the date of departure and although commitments appeared to be stacking up at the time of the expedition, no changes were made to the exercise and on 27th October the group left Kirkee Barracks for heathrow Airport.
The second stage of the journey was by air to Kuala Lumpur where the freight parted company starting on its own tour of South East asia via Manila, Singapore, Perth and Sydney.
From Kuala Lumpur the party traveled to Singapore by train, where it stayed in the New Zealand Forces transit accommodation for two days before joining the RNZAF flight to auckland via Sydney. Fortunately the stop over in singapore cleared much of our considerable jet-lag and so very soon after arriving in Papakure 16th Field Regiment,s camp 12 miles south of Auckland the exercise started in earnest.

Seeing the real New zealand

A few days of visits had been arranged by 16th regt to give the party a real taste of New Zealand, with trips to the Rotura geysers and volcanic pools, local museums art galleries and of course the bright lights of down town Auckland and Wellington.
During one visit to Auckland we were invited to attend a Maori Culture challenge.
Before the performance started I was approached by a Warrior in a traditional Maori
challenge, after much chanting and aggressive use of a spear he laid a torn leaf at my feet, to show we had come as friends and not to make war. I took up the greenery and we were duly accepted into the tribe.
My task during this phase was to finish of the recces started by 16th Regt and to finalise the route and duration of the expedition up the Waikato River. In addition the format of the Remembrance Ceremony had to be considered.

before the Battery could hold a joint service of remembrance in the Cemetery at Rangiriri the Tribal Elders of the Waikato Region had to meet us and give their approval of any association between the Maori People and the Battery.
On 4th November the Battery party was welcomed into Turongo House seat of the Maori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu and after a series of speeches and prayers all in Maori permission was given.

Retracing the route of 1863

On 9th November the battery party set off from Dury, a southern suburb of Auckland to hike 127 Km's to Port Waikato, following the route taken in 1863. The journey was spent enjoying the beautiful countryside of north New zealand, especially the Bombay Hill range and plenty of outstanding Kiwi hospitality.
After a weekend off and time to recover from blisters, the party took to the waters of the Waikato river in canoes. Due to strong currents and countless whirlpools it would have proved impossible to have canoed up the river from Port Waikato to Rangiriri as had been originally planned. As a compromise we decided to to lengthen the journey and canoe down river, past Rangiriri to port Waikato and thus to have achieved our aim of covering the ground over which the battery had traveled to the Battle.
The 240 Km journey was completed in a mixture of Kayaks and Maori dug-out canoes and in a total of four days.
Along the route we secured a sponsorship deal with the New zealand Breweries who agreed to finance the celebrations on the 20th, we were greeted by the mayor and people of Ngaruwahia and hosted in a different pub each night by landlords and customers alike.
The adventure training finished on 18th November leaving two days for last minute shopping and sightseeing before the parade.

125 Years on, Gunners and Maori Meet as Friends

At 11 o,clock on 20th November 125 years after the engagement at Rangiriri the battery party was welcomed into the village by the singing of a 100 strong Maori choir, a crowd of approximately 450 Maori and Pakoha (white) New Zealanders joined together in the presence of the Maori Queen to remember those who had died on both sides at the battle and to celebrate the friendship the Battery now enjoy with the Maori people.
wreaths were laid on the Maori mass grave by the Battery and the British Force monument by the Queens representative. Local Children and Descendants of those who fought at the Battle also laid a large number of tributes. A trumpeter from the RNZA Band played Last post and the Reveille and a pack Howitzer of 16th Field Battery fired to indicate a minutes silence.

From the Cemetery all those present moved into the garden of the Rangiriri Tavern to enjoy the waters of the Waikato River, this time courtesy of New zealand Breweries and New zealand famous lamb, beef and pork roasting on the barbeque.
The Battery presented a fine antique print of Colchester to the Maori Queen and proudly received a Paddle from the Royal Canoe carved with a design unique to the Battery and intended to allow the Battery to steer a safe and happy path through life,s waters.
The Maori Queen made a personal gift of a Piupiu (Flax Skirt ) headband and cross belt all bearing the design of her own Royal Household.

The presentations continued as we exchanged gifts with 16 Field regiment and a number of locals gave gifts to the Battery.
Ceremony now over we spent the rest of the day enjoying the company of friends and meeting many ex members of the Royal Regiment who had emigrated to New Zealand on retirement.
When the time for us to have to leave arrived we said sad farewells to the Maori Queen her people and to 16 Regt and all the guests we had invited having hopefully returned a little of the wonderful hospitality we had received throughout the duration of our stay. Again the choir rose in song wishing us a traditional Maori farewell, a safe journey home and that we might return soon to their shores - exercise planners, RAMRO and PB6 take note !!!!

Leaving Auckland on 21st November we arrived in Blighty on 25th November after much needed R and R in Singapore, the Maldives, Bahrain and Athens.
Exercise Kiwi venture 88 sadly was over but the memories of New Zealand and its
people live on in the Battery lines in darkest Essex......


PLEASE VIEW THE PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN DURING THE VISIT

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