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Cook Islands Online Cenotaph
Preserving Cook Islands Military History
Akara ki mua e akara katoa ki muri
To be able to look forward, you must be able to look back
Brought to you by
Final rank:
Private
First name/s
Manavaroa
Last name
MATAU
Service number and Regiment/Unit/Corps
16/1189
New Zealand Māori (Pioneer) Battalion, 1st Rarotongan Contingent
Also known as
Matau MANAVAROA
Date of birth
28/06/1895
Place of birth
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Date of death
29/08/1916
Place of death
France
Death registration number
NZ1918/33166
(post war death registration)
Headstone/grave location
Grave location: Wimereux Communal Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France
Memorial headstone location: Arorangi Cook Islands Christian Church grounds, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Next of kin
Manavaroa (father), Arorangi, Rarotonga
Archives New Zealand online service record
Additional information
Enlisted 30 September 1915 and disembarked at Suez from SS Navua 15 March 1916. Embarked for France from Port Said 9 April 1916. Admitted to 2nd Australian General Hospital, Wimereux 18 August 1916 with pneumonia and on 21 August 1916 was put on the dangerously ill list. Died in France 29 August 1916. Buried at Wimereux Communal Cemetery and his headstone records his surname as Matau. Private MATAU 16/1189 also has a memorial military headstone at the Arorangi CICC churchyard in Rarotonga.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemoration:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/84350/manavaroa-matau/
"Son of Manavaroa and Maki, of Arorangi, Rarotonga, Cook Islands."
Images and documents (click on images to enlarge)





Image credits and references
France headstone image credit: https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/manavaroa-matau
Further links
N/A
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