Tango Kokiri

Second Lieutenant

Conflict:

WW1

References:

CWGC

Archives New Zealand

NZ WAR GRAVES

Public Contributions:

From the memoir of LTJ Ryan 3/3079 -"They were great lads those Maoris. Some of them could hardly speak a word of English. They were in the charge of Lieutenant Tango Kokiri, a huge fat Maori weighin...g fully sixteen stone. He was the most popular man on the ship and to watch him putting his boys through physical drill was the greatest entertainment on the ship. He would jabber away at them in Maori interspersed with such remarks as, ‘Come along Dreamy’ or ‘Wake up Fatty’. As orderly officer for the day, he had methods all his own. It was usual for this officer each day to come down to the mess deck at meal times to see if there were any complaints. When it happened to be Lieutenant Kokiri he would wander in wearing an expansive smile and yell out in one direction, ‘Hi Ginger! How’s your tribe getting on?’ and in another, ‘How to grub boys?’ He was a sport! .... Lieutenant Kokiri, of whom mention has been made, was operated on at 2.00 am of this same day. Appendicitis was the trouble, but on operating the doctors found that peritonitis had set in and he was in a most serious condition. He was so very fat the doctors found it necessary to make a lengthy wound to enable them to penetrate to the required depth. They found that ordinary drainage tubes were inadequate and the next night whilst we were passing over the water where the naval battle of Falkland Islands was waged, the ship was again slowed down and under a local anaesthetic two fresh incisions were made and a large rubber tube obtained from the Chief Engineer was inserted for drainage purposes. All the next day the patient was very low and I was notified to attend at his bedside next morning at 6 o’clock to act as his personal attendant. I did attend but only to find that he had passed away during the night. He was buried at sea with full military honours. A thousand men stood at attention as the body in its canvas shroud draped with the Union Jack was borne to the ship’s side by a party of officers, the band meanwhile playing ‘Rock of Ages’. Behind the body came the Maoris making no attempt to hide their tears as they formed up in four ranks and stood with bowed heads resting on their reversed arms. The ship gradually slowed down and came to a dead stop. The burial service was read in Maori by Chaplain Seamer (C of E) and repeated in English by Chaplain Allen. The buglers sounded the wonderfully solemn notes of the ‘Last Post’ and the mortal remains of Lieutenant Tango Kokiri were committed to the depths of the Atlantic to the accompaniment of a mournful funeral dirge played by the lapping waves against the ship’s side. So was laid to rest a gentleman who, possessing a dark skin, was regarded as the whitest man on the ship. A tinkling bell on the bridge and the engines again sprang to life." Read More

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Casualty

Service Number:

20598

Name:

Tango Kokiri

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Date of Birth:

Not known

Next of Kin:

William King (brother), Ohinemutu, Rotorua, New Zealand

Date of Enlistment:

Not known

Occupation on Enlistment:

Civil servant

Armed Force:

Army

Unit:

New Zealand Maori (Pioneer) Battalion

Casualty Details

Cause of Death:

Died of disease

Date of Death:

21 April 1917

Day of Death:

Saturday

Conflict:

WW1

Embarkation Details

Embarkation Body:

Maori Contingent

Embarkation Place:

Wellington, New Zealand

Embarkment Date:

02 April 1917

Transport:

HMNZT 80

Vessel:

Corinthic

Destination:

Plymouth, England

Text in italics supplied by Cenotaph Online, Auckland War Memorial Museum

Cemetery

Cemetery:

Auckland Provincial Memorial

Cemetery Location:

New Zealand

Tango Kokiri

Public Contributions:

Personal Tributes:

Casualty

Casualty Details

Embarkation Details

Cemetery