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The Battle of Gate Pā (Pukehinahina) near Tauranga on 29 April 1864 was notable for the ferocity of the fighting, the initial repulse of the British and colonial forces, and an act of chivalry by one of the defenders, Heni Te Kiri Karamu, who at some risk to her own life gave water to a dying British officer and other wounded men. There are several memorials to the participants in the old military cemetery in March Street, Tauranga. These include the Tauranga 1st Waikato Militia NZ Wars memorial, Tauranga 43rd Regiment NZ Wars memorial, Tauranga Naval NZ Wars memorial, individual memorials to Hōri Ngātai and Rāwiri Puhirake, and the Tauranga Māori NZ Wars memorial).
What remained of the battle site was preserved as an historic reserve following the establishment of the Gate Pā Domain Board in 1887. However, no memorial was erected until St George’s Memorial Church was opened on part of the site in 1900. This was dedicated to the memory of the officers and men who fell at Gate Pā.
In 1964 the Tauranga Historical Society erected a memorial in the reserve itself. This was unveiled by Chief Justice Sir Harold Barrowclough and dedicated by the Reverend Brown Turei on the centennial of the battle. The memorial bore plaques commemorating the chivalry displayed by both Māori and Pākeha during the battle and in memory of the unnamed Māori who had been killed during the battle and buried nearby.
On 29 April 2007 a carved tomokanga, or gateway, was installed at the lower entrance to the reserve. This incorporated carvings of Tū, the god of war, and Rongo, the god of peace.
In 2014 members of the Pukehinahina Charitable Trust enlarged and embellished the memorial, adding a large deck, or marae ātea, and replacing the old flagpole. Two trees flanking the memorial which had been due for removal were instead lopped and turned into carvings. Eight carved pillars, or pou, were also installed along the edge of the reserve. The refurbished memorial was dedicated on 29 April 2014.
Fruther information
- NZ Gazette, 1887, pp. 929, 1367
- ‘The Memorial’, Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, no. 19, March 1964, pp. 33-6
- ‘Memorial Unveiled’, Bay of Plenty Times, 28 April 1964
- ‘Gate Pa Centennial Address’, Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, no. 21, September 1964, pp. 3-7
- Pukehinahina: Historic Gate Pa, 2nd edn, Tauranga, 1968
- Chris Maclean and Jock Phillips, The Sorrow and the Pride, Wellington, 1990, pp. 39-41
- W. Kennedy, ‘A Brief History of Greerton’, Historical Review, vol. 42, no. 1, May 1994, pp. 40-8
- ‘Battle of Gate Pa Commemorations’, Bay of Plenty Times, 12 April 2014
- Tauranga Memories: Battle of Gate Pā, 1864
Images and text: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2014
Much of then Gate Pā battle site has been preserved as an historic reserve which features several memorials including carved Māori pou added in 2014
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