​WWI Rarotongan Contingent numbers

The service numbers below only reflect soldiers who enlisted in the Cook Islands. Cook Islands soldiers who enlisted in New Zealand or elsewhere have different service numbers:

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1st Rarotongan Contingent:

Service numbers have prefix 16/1…

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2nd Rarotongan Contingent:

Service numbers have prefix 19…  

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3rd Rarotongan Contingent :

Service numbers have prefix 60… 

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4th Rarotongan Contingent:

Service numbers have prefix 84… 

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5th Rarotongan Contingent:

No service numbers as they arrived in New Zealand just before WWI ended. Only a few have service records.

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The soldiers who enlisted in the 4th & 5th Rarotongan Contingents did not leave New Zealand due to the armistice.

 

We have documented the names of next of kin from their service records, and also family names from various research sources.

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The International Date Line was established in1884 and passes through the mid-Pacific between the Cook Islands and New Zealand. This may explain why many of the headstones record the date of death as per the date in New Zealand when the notification of death was received by New Zealand authorities who were the administrators of the Cook Islands at the time.

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Cook Islands NZEF WWI ex-serviceman's headstones

Initially, the cost of manufacturing granite headstones in New Zealand along with shipping costs to the Cook Islands and erecting the headstone on the grave was shared between the New Zealand Government and the Cook Islands Administration. Later, headstones for the Cook Islands ex-servicemen who were in receipt of a war pension and whose death was attributed to their war service were supplied free of charge by the New Zealand Government while the Cook Islands Administration paid for the remainder. Many of the ex-servicemen who died from the late 1960’s onwards have a non military (private/civilian) headstone or are buried in an unmarked grave. Today, Veterans Affairs New Zealand will contribute up to NZD$1000 toward the cost of manufacturing, shipping and installation of a military headstone or plaque. You can read more about this here and here.

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There was a considerable delay in the ordering, production and shipping of ex-servicemen's headstones. For example, in 1957 an order for 56 headstones was placed with the New Zealand Department of Island Territories/New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs in Wellington. Although most had died between 1949 and 1957, the headstone order included a headstone for an ex-serviceman who had died in Mangaia in 1938. The previous order for 65 headstones was placed in 1949 at a cost of £585 (£9 per headstone). By the time the headstones were received (particularly in the Outer Islands) the burial location was unknown and explains why a number of military headstones were placed in church grounds as memorials. 

 

In the early 1960’s a new style of headstone was introduced. These were made of a pre-cast composite/aggregate material with a bronze plaque set into the stone. The intended outcome of the change was a reduction of the cost and timeframe of manufacturing for the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs. These headstones have proven to be of far inferior quality to the granite headstones previously supplied, and the bronze plaques have not weathered well in the marine environment of the Cook Islands. Later, Veterans Affairs New Zealand reverted to granite for their military headstones.

 

Since the first headstones were manufactured in the 1920’s, there has been ongoing confusion and discussion about the last Unit inscribed on headstones issued by the New Zealand authorities for the Cook Islands ex-servicemen. The most common confusion is surrounding the use of the wording Rarotongan Contingent, Rarotongan Company, Cook Islands Contingent, Cook Islands Company, Māori Battalion and Māori (Pioneer) Battalion.​​