Beads for a boy from Niue

The graveyard of St Andrew's Hornchurch, like many other churchyards is a bit overgrown and the stones are less than pristine but it is a place I do like. Not all stones are neglected though. The graves from WWI are cared for, standing out clear white among the mossy greens.

This was the first time I had ever seen the graves decorated, not just with little poppy crosses at the base of the stones but with beads and shells. I don't know who put them there or when but it does seem a fitting tribute to the four young men who died a long way from home

I have posted the story before but another tome won't hurt:

This is an edited version of an article written by Margaret Pointer New Zealand Herald.

The military parade in Auckland's Queen on February 4, 1916 was unusual: among the 1500 men that day were 140 from Niue. The men were part of the 3rd Maori Contingent and, along with 50 recruits from the Cook Islands, they were being sent to make up the numbers needed to maintain the Maori Contingent which had suffered heavily during the Gallipoli campaign the previous year.

Niue had become a New Zealand Protectorate in 1901. When war began in August 1914, the island had a population of around 4000, including 30 Europeans. The Europeans felt the need to make some sort of war effort and they suggested a Niue regiment and arranged the recruitment of men and their drilling on the village greens.

The 140 men sent New Zealand were marched to their new home, Narrow Neck Military Camp, or Nalo Neke as it became known in Niuean. Over four months the Niue Islanders underwent training at Nalo Neke. Most of the Niueans spoke no English. They found the army clothing restrictive and the boots were impossible for those used to walking barefoot on the coral island.

But their greatest problem was their lack of immunity to European diseases. Measles and similar common complaints were unknown on Niue and the real danger lay in the secondary, especially respiratory, infections. On Christmas Day, 1915, the first of the Niueans died of pneumonia. Others were too ill to continue with training and were held in hospital until a ship went to Niue. In February 1916 the Niue Islanders were ready for service and were sent initially to Egypt. but soon the order came to go to Northern France to provide support on the Western Front.

The Niueans were part of a Pioneer Battalion working at night to maintain a network of trenches in the mud. During this time the Niueans suffered terribly from illness and men had to go to hospital constantly. By late May 1916, 82 per cent of them had been hospitalised. Some recovered and were returned to duty, some were sent home by hospital ship, some were transferred to other hospitals and several died. Mercifully, the army authorities made the decision to withdraw the Niueans from Northern France and assemble them at the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital in Hornchurch, England, where they could be cared for before sailing to New Zealand.

Four of the Niueans did not live to return home and are buried here in Hornchurch