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Many thanks for this, Jono. I will look those up, & get to Liverpool to see that model. Your description of how you deduced the location of the grave is fascinating. We should take more pride in our successes. I thought it was a British thing to be shy about such things, but apparently not!

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British soldiers' lost graves uncovered at Ruapekapeka

I decided to transfer this thread from the Bad Place after @jonocarpenter.bsky.social got in touch yesterday. He worked on the restoration and memorialisation of the site, and found the communal grave of British soldiers killed at the Pā. Check out this article www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu... 15/15 🗃️

rnz.co.nz

Twelve British soldiers lay lost for more than 170 years after the Battle of Ruapekapeka. Yesterday, they were found.

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During this trip I met up with Rowan Light, NZ War curator at the Auckland War Memorial & @aucklanduni.bsky.social We began discussing the material culture of the NZ Wars. We’re now working on developing a project looking at the collections associated with the wars held in British museums. 14/15 🗃️

An image of Auckland War Memorial Museum. A large curved grey building with a grassy field in front of it with a path leading to the building.

Col. Wynyard built a model of Ruapekapeka Pā in an effort to understand how to counter Māori defensive works in preparation for any future conflict. British officers often engaged in informal professional learning and this forms part of the knowledge networks I’m investigating in my book. 13/15🗃️

Wynyard’s model fort on display in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Peace negotiations had already begun, and despite Ruapekapeka being painted a British victory, the Māori emerged with most of their war aims, whilst Heke and Kawiti were both granted full pardons. The site today is wonderfully preserved and memorialised. 12/15 🗃️

A black granite memorial to fallen British soldiers at Ruapekapeka Pā. The memorial has white engravings and is surrounded by grey bollards. The site of the Pā is seen in the background.

Despard this time eventually concentrated his firepower at one site and breached the palisade in the north east corner. He ordered an attack but Kawiti had already withdrawn. 11/15 🗃️

A drawing of the British encampment, with the Pā in the background. A column of redcoated British soldiers march past in the foreground, whilst smoke from artillery fire clouds the middle ground.

Reference: Te Ruapekapeka, NZ, January 1846. John Williams. Hocken Library.

Anti-artillery bunkers protected the defenders and trenches allowed Māori marksmen to fire on the British from positions of safety. 10/15 🗃️

A panoramic photograph of the Pā taken in October 2023. Hand emojis point to the location bunkers and trenches in the foreground which the defenders used as protection from the British bombardment. The British position is highlighted in the background. There is a beautiful view of the New Zealand countryside from the hilltop Pā, made all the more splendid in the evening sunshine.

The Pā itself was well constructed. Double palisades afforded protection from artillery. A flax curtain prevented British seeing in to the Pā. Here’s a plan of the Pā, a model built after the war, & the trenches today. I’ve pointed out on the plan where the photos are taken. 9/15 🗃️

A contemporary plan of Ruapekapeka Pā. The perimeter is misshapen but generally rectangular with several redoubts and abutments. Emojis point on the locations from which I took other photographs attached to this post. The first emoji is in the top corner of the Pā and relates to the third photo, and the second emoji points to the bottom corner with a redoubt and relates to the fourth photo.

Reference: Auckland War Memorial MS 420 Survey plan of Ruapekapeka Pā by Major L. E. Du MOULIN.

This photo is of a model of the Pā. I have placed emojis to point out the same locations.

Reference: Model of Ruapekapeka Pā built by Colonel Wynyard after the War and exhibited in Auckland. Now on display at Auckland War Memorial Museum.

A photograph of a grassed over trench work which marks the outer perimeter of the Pā and illustrates the sophistication of the Māori design.

A photograph of another grassed over trench work, much deeper than the other. It is a redoubt in the palisade of the Pā and afforded the defenders greater line of sight over the attackers.

Despard had to march 18 miles inland, establishing a road and move his supplies. He set up camp 750m from the Pā and then built batteries 300m from the palisades and commenced a bombardment. This is the site of the British batteries today. 8/15 🗃️

A photograph of a field, bright green in the sunshine. There is evidence of military activity, in the form of a large square and very shallow trench, which marks the perimeter of the British batteries.

Having inflicted severe costs, the Māori withdrew. A series of similar contests led to similar results until the British launched an attack on Kawiti’s newly built, Te Ruapekapeka Pā. I visited there & it is one of the best preserved & signposted battlefields I’ve been too. 7/15 🗃️

A photograph, taken in October 2023, of the view of the ruins of Ruapekapeka Pā, a Māori fortification from the Northern War fought in New Zealand in 1845, as seen from the British encampment. The fortification is in the distance at the top of a gently sloping hill.

Emojis point out the location of the British encampment in the foreground, the forward British batteries in the middle ground, and the location of the Pā itself at the top of the hill in the background.

At Ohaeawai Pā 8 May, after engaging in an ineffectual bombardment, British commander Col Henry Despard launched an assault. A complete failure the assault resulted in 114 casualties. Māori casualties casualties were small, having been protected by palisades and trenches. 6/15 🗃️

A watercolour painting of the British attack on Ohaeawai Pā. Redcoated British soldiers and an allied Māori warrior can be seen in the foreground crouching behind an earthwork loading their weapons. The Pā itself is in the middle ground, and its principal feature is a large square pallisade.

Reference: Alexander Turnbull Library, A-079-005, View of the left angle of Heke's pāh at Ohaeawai stormed on the 18th of July 1845, from a breastwork adjoining our right battery. Cyprian Bridge.

Heke and Kawiti built a series of Pā - fortifications. Traditional Pā controlled important agricultural sites, but the new Pā were placed strategically to force the British to advance far from their supply lines. The Māori also incorporated trenches into the Pā design. 5/15 🗃️

Detail of the cross-section plan of Ohaeawai Pā illustrating the use of palisades, trenches and buildings to protect the defenders and atrite attackers.

Reference: Auckland War Memorial MS 420 Survey plan of Ohaiawhai Pā by Major L. E. Du MOULIN.

The British re-erected the flagstaff but Heke and Kawiti orchestrated an attack on Kororareka which overwhelmed the British defenders. The fall of Kororareka was a humiliation for the British, and a series of operations were undertaken to defeat Heke and Kawiti. 4/15 🗃️

A map of the Māori attack on Kororareka, which depicts a two-pronged assault on the town. HMS Hansard is highlighted anchored in the bay.

A photograph of the same location depicted in the map, taken from Flagstaff Hill of the town of Russell on a small Peninsula, in the Bay of Islands. Smaller islands are visible in the bay. The sky is blue with light fluffy clouds, and the sea is turquoise.

In 1845, the British erected a flagstaff at Kororareka, displaying only the Union Flag. Incensed, Hone Heke, nephew of Te Ruki Kawiti, the Ngāti Hine Chief, repeatedly chopped the flagstaff down. Peer closely and you can see the flagstaff above modern-day Russell. 3/15 🗃️

A photograph of the hill on which the flagstaff in question was erected, taken from a ferry in the Bay of Islands. A small motorboat is moored in the foreground. Other sailing vessels can also be seen moored in the middle ground. A hand emoji points to the location of the flagstaff.

A closeup photograph of the flagstaff itself atop the hill of Kororareka. The sky is blue with light fluffy clouds.

I headed to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds first, the sight where the treaty seen as the foundation of the New Zealand nation was signed in 1840. Differences of interpretation of the treaty translation caused tensions. 2/15 🗃️

A picture of the flagstaff at Waitangi Treaty Grounds, overlooking a stunning view of the Bay of Islands. The flags that fly today are the three official flags New Zealand has had since 1834 – Te Kara, the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand (from 1834-present), the Union flag (from 1840-1902), and the New Zealand flag (from 1902-present).

David Morgan-Owen @dmorganowen.bsky.social · 01/11/2024

A year ago I visited New Zealand on a research trip for the new book. On my last day, I hired a car and explored locations linked to the first of the New Zealand Wars, 1845-1846. I posted about it in the Bad Place, but thought I would transfer the thread over and update. 1/15 🗃️

A map of the First New Zealand War, focused on the geographical features of the Bay of Islands, and charting the actions and movements of British and Māori forces.

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Reposted by Huw J. Davies

Very pleased to be working with the National Maritime Museum on this conference in 2025, supported by them and some generous funding from @britishacademy.bsky.social - www.rmg.co.uk/collections/... - applications open now so please share & reach out if you have any questions

rmg.co.uk

Call for papers: Britain, Conflict, and the Sea conference 12-13 September 2025

‘Britain, Conflict and the Sea’ seeks to explore the ways in which modern Britain has been shaped by ideas and practices of maritime war. Please submit your paper for the conference on 12-13 September...

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@rauchway.bsky.social Good Morning! Would you mind adding me as a poster on What’s History? 🗃️ Thank you!

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Wow. I commented at the time how well preserved and memorialised I thought the whole site was. I spent hours wandering around there. Congratulations & thank you for the work. Have you been in touch with Rowan Light at the University of Auckland & War Memorial? He’s also working in this area.

A black granite memorial to fallen British soldiers at Ruapekapeka Pā. The memorial has white engravings and is surrounded by grey bollards. Beautiful green rolling countryside can be seen in the background.

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Would love to read this if you’re happy to share. I visited Ruapekapeka Pā during a research trip last October. Interested in knowledge exchange within & between the NZ wars, & outside of NZ to South Africa in particular. Last thread I did over in the Bad Place was on this visit. Will transfer over.

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Likewise - I'm looking forward to your book very much - and rather hoping it'll be out before 2031!

An incomplete list of 🦋scholars whose work have heavily influenced the direction of this research: @duncanbell.bsky.social @davidrarmitage.bsky.social @dmorganowen.bsky.social @draefox.bsky.social @alanlester.bsky.social @dpeers.bsky.social @bethgaskell.bsky.social and plenty more not on here. 🗃️

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This is obviously a very broad overview, and I'm at the beginning of a massive research journey, which I'm looking forward to sharing on here. 🗃️

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Political ideologies, technological transformation & cumulative experience of colonial warfare, interacted to influence the pace & direction of military development in the late 19th century. Knowledge, ideas & debate about these issues were exchanged informally, & this is the focus of my research. 🗃️

Technology effectively made the world smaller, and the possibility emerged that Britain could exist at the centre of a federated colonial union. This was particularly appealing to some in the army, who saw in the empire solutions to manpower shortages and the means to manage colonial defence. 🗃️

Meanwhile, the brutality and scale of industrial warfare which emerged during the US Civil War & Austro-Prussian & Franco-Prussian Wars in Europe, worried the British: how could their tiny standing army geared toward colonial security respond to the huge & technically equipped continental armies? 🗃️

New technologies shortened communication times, speeded up journey times and made the battlefield bigger and more deadly. The British grappled with integrating new technologies into the army, whilst also responding to innovative countermeasures developed by their colonial adversaries. 🗃️

Barrack libraries became more common, in which soldiers could read new military periodicals. Formal knowledge exchange - in military colleges and intelligence dept - also emerged. And the challenge facing the Army was how to balance colonial conflict with the emergence of industrial-scale warfare. 🗃️

Specific techniques & procedures evolved to respond to specific environments. It became systematically more challenging to take military experience & apply it elsewhere. On the other hand, the means of learning lessons also became more systematic: soldiers could access knowledge more readily. 🗃️

In my earlier book, The Wandering Army, I explore some of these themes in the eighteenth century. Ideas and experiences were exchanged across continents and adapted and applied to respond to different challenges. This was also the case in the nineteenth century, but in a very different way. 🗃️