Which communicates respect and which doesn’t? If you want to show respect for someone, start by being polite. Other cultures are known for their rudeness. Some cultures in the world are known for their politeness. It can help them press on through what may be difficult. An act of politeness can literally change a person’s day. Whether it’s on the highway, at the grocery store, in the parking lot, on the athletic field, on Facebook, or in political rhetoric – polite discourse and interaction is rapidly becoming a lost art. It’s appalling to witness the decline of politeness in the modern world. Kindness is a tangible way of showing respect. And what a relief it was when someone showed us kindness. Respect for the fact that someone else is simply in need. When we’re kind to someone, we’re giving of ourselves. But it’s very difficult to be kind without serving. He was killed on 8 August as the Wellington Battalion seized the crucial heights of Chunuk Bair.Though kindness and service are first cousins, they aren’t identical.

A noted marksman, he was an effective sniper at Gallipoli. He played rugby for the New Zealand Maoris teams that toured New Zealand in 1911 and Australia in 1913. One such man was Second Lieutenant Thomas (Hami) Grace of the Wellington Battalion.Īn old boy of Wellington College, Grace was a talented sportsman. Some Māori had been at Gallipoli from the beginning, having enlisted in the provincial infantry battalions.

Here they joined the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, who were being deployed as infantry on the peninsula. The Maori Contingent landed at Anzac Cove on 3 July 1915. Mounting casualties and the need for reinforcements on the Gallipoli Peninsula forced a change in imperial policy on 'native peoples' fighting. Godley was impressed by the sentiment, but unconvinced.

Condliffe, Te Rangi Hiroa: the life of Sir Peter Buck, Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch, 1971, p. Our ancestors were a warlike people … he members of this war party would be ashamed to face their people at the conclusion of the war if they were to be confined entirely to garrison duty and not … given an opportunity of proving their mettle at the front. When the contingent arrived in Egypt, Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Buck) made an impassioned plea: Godley recommended that the contingent go to Malta for further training and garrison duties, thus freeing up Pākehā troops for combat. The minister of defence, James Allen, wrote to Major-General Sir Alexander Godley, commander of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, stating, 'Although they are a coloured race I think it would be apparent on their arrival that they are different to the ordinary coloured race.' Some New Zealanders thought that an exception should be made for Māori. The committee and the men of the contingent were determined that Māori would see combat, despite imperial concern about their use of weapons against European forces. The committee included the four Māori MPs, with Apirana Ngata and Western Māori's Māui Pōmare the key figures. The Maori Contingent Committee had the task of raising and reinforcing the contingent. The crest of the contingent bore two traditional Māori weapons, the taiaha and tewhatewha, crossed through a crown. This name was given by Wī Pere, an East Coast rangatira. Its motto was 'Te Hokowhitu a Tū' (the seventy twice-told warriors of the war god), signifying the 140 warriors of the war god, Tū-mata-uenga. The first Maori Contingent sailed from Wellington aboard the SS Warrimoo in February 1915.

The war of the gods respect feeling