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Cenotaph record

Fred Eru Toe

Lay a poppy
Nominal Roll Vol 2 (Roll 38), Page: 40 - No known copyright restrictions

Nominal Roll Vol 2 (Roll 38), Page: 40 - No known copyright restrictions

No Known Copyright Restrictions AWMM

Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Fred AWMM
  • Surname
    Eru Toe AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
    WWI 20632 AWMM
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
    Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
  • Date of birth
    abt. 1.4.1895 Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 7 August 2024 - Military Record
  • Place of birth
    Hokianga Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 7 August 2024 - Military Record
  • Birth notes
    Son of Eru Toe and Ihapera Toe Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 7 August 2024 - https://www.geni.com/people/Eru-Toe/6000000058944499831
  • Address before enlistment
    Rangiahua Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 7 August 2024 - Military Record
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    Mrs Isabelle Toe (mother), Kohukohu, Hokianga, New Zealand AWMM
  • Relationship status

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Military decorations

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  • Medals and Awards

Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    WW1 Unknown AWMM Bushman/Civilian AWMM
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes

Last known rank

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  • Last rank

Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • Member of the Maori Pioneer Battalion attached to the New Zealand Tunnelling Company.

      43 members of the NZ (Maori) Pioneers served with the New Zealand Tunnelling Company and assisted in the late 1916 early 1917 preparations of the Arras caverns for the Battle of Arras. AWMM
    • Fred Eru Toe, of the Hokianga, was only 21 years old when he left New Zealand shores bound for war. 100 years on and his son, Kiri Erutoe and grandson, Katene Paul-Gilbert have arrived in Wellington to honour their family member in today’s Anzac Parade.

      Not much is known here in New Zealand about the efforts of the tunnellers, but the theory behind it was simple. A labyrinth of caverns and tunnels were dug beneath enemy territory so as to bypass the trenches and barbed-wire fences.

      The idea was to connect these caverns, turning them into a secret, sheltered base for an infantry division, then tunnel towards the German trenches and lay mines to blow them apart.

      The tunnellers won this battle, forcing the German miners into a retreat from which they never recovered.

      Katene says “It’s important to recognise the sacrifice from not only your whānau but everyone's whānau” in New Zealand's war efforts.

      Katene and his grandfather Kiri will participate in the wreath laying ceremony tomorrow at the Cenotaph in Wellington. Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 19 July 2025 - https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2015/04/24/maori-pioneer-tunneller-honoured-in-anzac-parade/
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Death

About death

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  • Death
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name

Roll of Honour

Remember Fred Eru Toe by laying a poppy.

Leave a note

Leave a tribute or memory of Fred Eru Toe

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  • Ngatumu Fred TOE died 18th July 1964 in Auckland aged 64yrs -
    REF: Military Records- death Notice & NZ BDM Death Records
    Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 7 August 2024
    Report 

Sources

Sources

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  • External links
  • References
    • Pugsley, C. (1995). Te Hokowhitu a Tu : the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the first World War. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed. AWMM
    • New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer. AWMM
      38: 40 AWMM
    • Soutar, M. (2019). Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Maori In the First World War. New Zealand: David Bateman Ltd. AWMM
    • Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs. AWMM
    • Neill, J.C. (Ed.). (1922). The New Zealand Tunnelling Company, 1915-1919. Auckland, N.Z.: Whitcombe & Tombs. AWMM
    • Annabell, N. Official History of the New Zealand Engineers during the Great War 1914–1919. Wanganui: Evans, Cobb & Sharpe, 1927. AWMM

Contributors

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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
19 July 2025Lorraine MonaGisborneResearcher

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