War & conflict

The burning of the Boyd

Around 66 crew and passengers were killed and the ship burned at Whangaroa, after the flogging of a rangatira’s son aboard. European shipping avoided the north for years.

The Musket Wars

Musket-armed war parties reshaped the map of Māori New Zealand. Perhaps 20,000 died and whole districts changed hands before the fighting burned out around 1840.

Te Rauparaha’s migration to Kapiti

Ngāti Toa left Kāwhia and fought their way south, seizing Kapiti Island as a base that controlled Cook Strait and the trade passing through it.

The Elizabeth affair

A British captain hid Te Rauparaha’s war party aboard his brig to capture the Ngāi Tahu chief Te Maiharanui — a scandal that helped convince Britain it needed an official presence.

Invasion of Rēkohu and the Moriori

Te whakaeke i Rēkohu

Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama sailed to the Chathams and took the islands. The Moriori, holding to their covenant of peace, chose not to resist and were nearly destroyed.

The Wairau affray

An armed Nelson party tried to arrest Te Rauparaha over disputed Wairau land. Twenty-two settlers and at least four Ngāti Toa died.

The Northern War

Te riri Pākehā ki te Tai Tokerau

Hōne Heke felled the flagstaff at Kororāreka four times and sacked the town. The war ended at Ruapekapeka, an engineered pā built to absorb artillery.

Hutt Valley and Whanganui campaigns

Fighting over disputed Company purchases spread through the Hutt and up to Whanganui. Governor Grey seized Te Rauparaha from his bed without charge.

First Taranaki War

British artillery opened on Te Kōhia pā, beginning a year of fighting over the Waitara purchase that ended in an inconclusive truce.

Invasion of the Waikato

Te riri ki Waikato

Around 12,000 imperial and colonial troops crossed the Mangatāwhiri to break the Kīngitanga — the largest military campaign ever fought in New Zealand.

Battle of Rangiriri

The bloodiest single engagement of the Waikato campaign, ending when a white flag raised to parley was treated as surrender.

Battle of Ōrākau

About 300 defenders held an unfinished pā against 1,400 troops for three days, then broke out through the British lines in daylight.

Gate Pā — Pukehinahina

A heavier bombardment than anything at Sebastopol failed to break the pā, and the assault that followed was routed by defenders in bunkers beneath it.

Tītokowaru’s campaign

Riwha Tītokowaru won a run of victories with a tiny force and had the colonial government close to losing the southern North Island, then his support evaporated.

Te Kooti escapes from Rēkohu

Deported without trial, Te Kooti seized a schooner, sailed 300 prisoners home, and led a four-year pursuit through the Urewera that never caught him.

New Zealand troops sent to the South African War

The first overseas war New Zealand fought as a country: around 6,500 men and 8,000 horses, and 230 deaths.

New Zealand enters the First World War

About 100,000 served overseas from a population of just over a million. Around 18,000 died and 41,000 were wounded — proportionally among the heaviest losses of any country.

The Gallipoli landing

New Zealand troops landed on the Gallipoli peninsula on 25 April. Of about 14,000 who served there, 2,779 died. The date became the country’s day of remembrance.

The raid on Maungapōhatu

Seventy armed police marched into the Tūhoe prophet Rua Kēnana’s community in the Urewera. Two men were shot dead, including Rua’s son.

Passchendaele — the worst day

An attack on Bellevue Spur in Flanders mud, against uncut wire and without effective artillery support, killed around 845 New Zealanders in a few hours.

New Zealand declares war on Germany

‘Where she goes, we go’ — 140,000 served overseas and nearly 12,000 died, from a population of 1.6 million.

The 28th (Māori) Battalion

Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū

A volunteer battalion organised by tribal area fought through Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy, and took proportionally the heaviest casualties of any New Zealand unit.

Kayforce sent to Korea

About 4,700 New Zealanders served in Korea under the United Nations flag; 45 died. It was the country’s first UN commitment.