Niue’s isolation

The South Pacific island of Niue lies 2400 kilometres northeast of New Zealand and 5800 kilometres east of Australia. As Margaret Pointer writes, ‘when war was declared in Europe in 1914 Niue was possibly as far away from the conflict as could be imagined.’^[1] Niue had neither wireless communication nor regular shipping – during the winter vessels arrived once every few months; there were no ships during the summer cyclone season.^[2]

Given its isolation, Niue learned of the outbreak of war ‘surprisingly quickly.’^[3] News arrived by ship in September 1914. The crew informed residents that Britain had declared war on Germany. The crew also reported that they had sighted German cruisers in the Pacific Ocean and that New Zealand forces had seized German Samoa.

Niuean men volunteer

To King George, all those in authority and the brave men who fight. I am the island of Niue, a small child that stands up to help the Kingdom of King George.’^[4]

In sending this message, Niuean men volunteered (prior to being recruited). They also raised funds for New Zealand’s Red Cross.

Uea, a Niuean mission teacher (or ‘pastor’), was one of the first to volunteer. He encouraged other Niuean men to follow suit.

New Zealand accepts the offers of men from Niue and the Cook Islands

To rebuild the Maori Contingent, following the Gallipoli campaign of 1915, New Zealand accepted the offers of men from Niue and the Cook Islands. (Other men arrived to New Zealand from Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati to join the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and were sometimes accepted).

Kolokesa Mahina-Tuai summarises:

Just as New Zealand was inevitably drawn into the conflict by its economic dependence on Britain so the dominion in turn recruited men from its Pacific Island territories using them to bolster numbers for the newly established Native Contingent, the forerunner of what would become the New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion.^[5]

In total 150 Niuean men enlisted.^[6] According to the New Zealand Resident Commissioner, many more Niuean men were willing to go (but New Zealand only required 150).^[7] At forty years of age, Uea was the oldest in the group. He was appointed chaplain.

The Niuean contingent left Niue on the 13^th of October 1915 following a church service in Alofi during which each man was presented with a Niuean New Testament, given to him by the British and Foreign Bible Society. That book would be a great source of comfort to the men during their time away.

Six days later, on the 19^th of October 1915, the men arrived at Narrow Neck military training camp on Auckland’s North Shore.

Challenges from the outset

At Narrow Neck the Niuean men were trained in ‘handling weapons, constructing trenches, observing general army procedures and following instructions in the English language.’^[8]

Language barriers became immediately apparent. Very few Niueans spoke English. Chaplain Uea was one of the few. Soon after his arrival to New Zealand, he was made Sergeant. Just days before the Contingent embarked for Egypt, he was promoted to Sergeant Major.

It is no wonder that Uea was singled out as a leader: he was the oldest member of the group; he had prior experience as a teacher in the church (he may have known and taught some or many of the men); he was considered by them to be a father figure, a role model, a matua; he was bilingual; he was a man of the church.

Despite his promotions Uea remained in close quarters with his men. It is noted in his service record ‘he felt he could do more good if he lived with the men.’^[9]

Language was not the only difficulty. The Niuean men had never worn shoes. Long marches in stiff army boots caused significant pain. Food was also an issue. At home the Niuean men lived on fish and fruit. Military meals were heavy with meat. The sudden change in diet caused them to experience stomach-aches and vomiting.

Of all the challenges the Niueans faced, climate was the most affecting. While at Narrow Neck, Chaplain Uea conducted a funeral for Private Vilipate – ‘Niue’s first casualty of the cold.’^[10] Vilipate was admitted to Narrow Neck Camp Hospital with double pneumonia. He died on Christmas Day, 1915. He would not be the last.

From New Zealand to Egypt

On the 5^th of February 1916, the Niuean troops left Auckland for Egypt aboard His Majesty’s New Zealand Troopship No.53 (formerly SS Navua) as part of the 3^rd Maori Contingent. In Egypt, that Contingent would be reorganised to form the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion.  

The ship steamed across the Arabian Sea, into the Red Sea. Margaret Pointer imagines what it was like for the men to enter the Red Sea:

It must have been a very emotional moment for the men of Niue. Isolated and far from everything they knew, here at last was a place of Biblical significance that they had often heard spoken of by their pastors back in the villages on Niue. Uea, the Niuean chaplain in the contingent, called the men, “Come on deck to see for yourself the Red Sea you know from the Bible.”’^[11]

As the ship neared Egypt there was an outbreak of measles. When Niueans contracted illnesses such as this, the effect was particularly bad because they lacked immunity and were more vulnerable than most to secondary infections such as pneumonia. On arrival in Suez, 15 Niuean men were hospitalised, including Uea. For men who spoke no English, the hospital experience must have been terrifying. Margaret Pointer explains:

From the day of arrival in the Middle East, Niueans began to be separated from the main body as they were hospitalised then either transferred or left behind, depending on their health. The effect of this on the men must have been particularly frightening because of their lack of English… Once the 140 men who had left New Zealand together disembarked from Navua, they were never again all together. Those… who found themselves totally alone in the alien environment of a foreign hospital must have felt especially displaced.^[12]

Hearing and reading Niuean hymns and prayers may have given sick men, who were far from home, a reassuring sense of home.

After a period of isolation, Uea and the others re-joined the main body and continued their training. They had recovered from measles but now faced the Egyptian winter and with it, temperatures they had never before experienced. Extreme physical exertion during cold winter months caused ‘bronchial and pulmonary infections, dysentery and enteritis.’^[13] Pointer reports, ‘by early April 1916 52% of the Niuean contingent was hospitalised.’^[14]

Briefly, to the Western Front

Some men, now too ill to serve, were returned home from Suez. The 52 that remained, included Uea, continued to the Western Front as part of the Pioneer Battalion. Before the Battalion departed, the Maori men performed a haka; the Cook Islanders, a dance; and the Niueans, a song for the British Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean and Lord Plunket.^[15] (In this gallery you can hear contemporary recordings of Niuean songs). 

The journey to northern France took its toll on some. Those who made it to Armentieres were engaged in trench work: ‘digging and sandbagging, transporting timber frames in for support and placing duck-walks at the bottom. Such work was accomplished with the constant companions of mud, water, cold, rats and artillery fire overhead.’^[16] However, soon after the Niueans’ arrival, it became clear that they could not withstand the French winter.  Too many men had already perished from pneumonia caused by cold climates in New Zealand, Egypt and now France. By this time eighty two percent had been hospitalised.^[17] In late May, the New Zealand Division ordered the Niuean troops to move west to the New Zealand base depot in Etaples and then to the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital in Hornchurch, England, before returning home.

While at Hornchurch, the men attended church on Sunday – services translated by Uea.^[18] On the voyage home five Niuean men died and were ‘buried’ at sea. Uea conducted the Niuean parts of each burial service.

Summary

Though the Niueans were not in service for long, their time away from home – in New Zealand, Egypt, France and England – was as intense, foreign and terrifying as any man’s. Throughout this time, Sergeant-Major Uea (chaplain to the Niuean troops) provided words of comfort to the sick, the dying, and the bereaved – words, crucially expressed in the Niuean language.

Afterword

When the Niuean men returned to Niue, the New Zealand Government arranged for a war memorial to be erected on the green at Alofi and in 1926, the Government presented a roll of honour to be placed in the church in Alofi. However, the Niuean servicemen received no financial compensation for their service in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

During his post-war years, Uea petitioned the New Zealand government to support the Niuean returned servicemen. Here is an extract from one of his letters, now in the private collection of his grandchildren:

To the Honourable Lords of New Zealand who guarded the command of our King George VI, which had been forwarded to their charge, to care for His Majesty’s subjects who went overseas in the year 1915 to help in the Great War in Europe. We desire to thank you very much indeed for your kind services in helping some of our weak members who are stricken with sickness and are of old age. But there are still a few more who need help very much. 

Uea stood up for the needs of other returned servicemen. He was also a staunch advocate of Niue’s independence. He believed that Niue should run its own affairs. He visited other Pacific Island territories such as Samoa and Rarotonga, and learned from them. He may have visited these islands whilst on business – post-war, he ran a business exporting taro, coconut and other produce.

Uea’s granddaughter Marion remembers how Uea often walked ‘to the bush’ to harvest taro and coconut. On his way he called out, ‘who wants to join me?’ Marion would run to catch up with him. She remembers how ‘old man Uea’ sang as he walked – Niuean hymns such as Ko e Iki he Lagi (The Lord in Heaven). Marion asked him, ‘why do you sing these same songs all the time?’ ‘To keep them alive,’ he replied. In 1974, Ko e Iki he Lagi became the Niuean national anthem.

For the remainder of his life, Uea continued to go to church. Despite the tragedy of the war, he held fast to his faith.

Marion remembers Uea as a strong, proud, lovely man.

Uea died in 1947 in Niue. His grave was destroyed when the road in Alofi was widened. Uea’s family subsequently commissioned a memorial plaque to remember and honour Uea’s war service. 

Information about Chaplain Uea is on display in Pou Maumahara, Level 2. The Niuean Bible, included in the case, "Ko e Tohi Tapu: Ko e Maveheaga Tuai mo e Maveheaga Fou" (1966) is kindly on loan from Taha Fasi.

As apart of the Great War Stories, produced during the WW100 commemorative period, a short documentary sharing the story of Falaoa Tosene, one of the 150 Niuean's was created you can find his story below. 

References

[1] Margaret Pointer, Tagi Tote E Loto Haaku: My Heart Is Crying A Little: Niue Island Involvement in the Great War 1914-1918 translated by Kalaisi Folau (Government of Niue and Institute of Pacific Studies, 2000), 3.