Lest We Forget The Other

Chinese New Zealanders’ experience of World War I

澳新軍團 華裔軍人
The role played by Chinese New Zealanders in World War One is not only the story of
individuals and their military service, but the story of a marginalised community who lived
during a time of intense and open racism.
The first Chinese to settle in New Zealand were miners from Guangdong (formerly Canton)
who arrived during the gold rushes of the 1860s. By 1916, 2,017 Chinese men were
resident in New Zealand, 36 of whom served in the armed forces during World War One.

Those who served were largely of mixed

Chinese and British decent and from regions
where few other Chinese lived. Raised in the
European New Zealand culture of New
Plymouth,Masterton or Gisborne,they enrolled
alongside their European friends.
By comparison, none of the 286 Chinese
living in Wellington served in the armed
forces during World War One. An environment
of petty and institutional racism did not incline
these men towards service to the British
Empire.
Despite small numbers in active service,
Chinese New Zealanders contributed
significantly to the war through agricultural
production and local fundraising. Auckland Weekly News 5 September 1901
Image courtesy of Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries,
AWNS-19010905-2-2

Willie Shack Horne

Born in Masterton in 1893, Willie Shack Horne 石赤褌
was the only child of Shack Horne 石漢,新會县,廣東
省 and Hannah O’Neill. In June 1916 he enlisted in the
18th New Zealand Rifle Brigade reinforcements, aged 21.
From January 1917 to January 1918 he served with the
New Zealand Rifle Brigade in Belgium, taking part in some
of the worst fighting of the war, including the battles of
Messines and Passchendaele.
At the end of his service, he migrated to the United States
where he lived for the rest of his life.

Willie Shack Horne, during the 1920s.

Image courtesy of Nigel Murphy.
 Lest We Forget The Other
Chinese New Zealanders’ experience of World War I
澳新軍團 華裔軍人
James Arnold Wong Lee
Born in Hastings in 1898, James was the fifth child
of Wong Lee, fruiterer and Chinese doctor, and
Alice Thompson.
He enlisted in September 1916, under aged at 18,
as James Arnold Lee. He left New Zealand as part
of the 21st Reinforcements.
In March 1917 he was transferred to the Otago
Regiment and on 8 October 1917 entered the front
line, four days before the disastrous assault on
Passchendaele, an action he took part in.
He survived Passchendaele but was killed in action
at Polygon Wood on 24 November 1917.
James Arnold Wong Lee is buried in the Buttes A poignant inscription on his parents’ headstone reads
New British (New Zealand) Cemetery in Belgium. “Arnold Wong Lee. Killed in action on November 24, 1917 at
the age of 19. He answered his country’s call.
Gone but not forgotten.”
Image courtesy of Hastings District Council

Eang King (George) How Chow

Born in Gisborne in 1895, Eang was the youngest child
of businessman George How Chow 何 就 , 光 海 村 ,
新 寧 县 , 廣 東 省 and Sarah West. He enlisted in
February 1917 at Opotiki, aged 21.
At the time he stated he was unmarried, despite
having a wife and two children. He served as a
rifleman in France and Belgium from November 1917
to July 1919.
He was mentioned in despatches by Sir Douglas Haig
for “distinguished and gallant services and devotion to
duty during the period 16 September 1918 to 15 March
1919”.
After the war he moved with his wife and children to
Pukekohe to become a farmer. He died there in 1971,
aged 76.
Eang How Chow prior to embarkation, 1917.
Image courtesy of Sean Andrews

Killed in action:
Herbert Stanley Sing: 3 July 1916
Richard Claude Mee Sang: 13 October 1917
Arnold Wong Lee: 24 November 1917
Andrew Ah Keong: 9 September 1918
 Lest We Forget The Other
Indian New Zealanders’ experience of World War I

Indian seamen, or lascars, sailed New Zealand waters from as early as 1810. A few
settled here, but a resident Indian community did not begin to develop in New Zealand
until the 1890s.
Like New Zealander’s budding Chinese community, Indians faced a great deal of
discrimination. However as members of the British Empire, they were free to come
and go – until restrictions began to be imposed on non-white migrants in 1899.

By 1916, census records show 181 Indian people

living in New Zealand. Many worked as labourers:
cutting scrub, digging ditches or harvesting flax.
Others found employment as hawkers, selling goods
from door to door.
Indian New Zealanders who volunteered for the
armed forces during World War One were looking During the war and in the 1920’s, Indians (mostly Punjabis)
for adventure or an escape from poorly paid worked as scrub-cutters in the Waikato and King Country.
These regions became key settlement areas for the Indians
labouring work. Some, however, had previous who later developed their own farms and businesses.
military experience in India. From left: Arjan, Deljup and Ngagina.
Image courtesy of The Taumaranui and Districts Historical Society, White
family Collection, Reference: 15292

Only seven men of Indian descent appear to have been

Born in Gujarat in 1894, Bhana Kesha (seated)
arrived in Auckland during 1913 aged 19. He settled
in Tory Street, Wellington, where he worked as a
bottle dealer. In 1917 he received this Certificate
of Enrolment as a reservist in the NZEF second
division. He was not called to active service.
Images courtesy of Harshad Bhana son of (Bhana Kesha).
The Anglo-Indians
When war broke out in 1914, 24 Anglo-Indian
men living in New Zealand. With British fathers
and Indian mothers, they had been raised in the
British culture of the Raj, but were sent to New
Zealand and Australia for employment.
Of these men, 22 saw active service. Two died and
many were wounded; four were awarded the Military
Medal and one the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Anglo-Indians were not allowed to fight for the
Indian or British armies at the beginning of the war,
so service in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force
was seen as an opportunity to prove themselves.
accepted into New Zealand’s armed forces during World
War One, although around 110 enlisted, but were not
called to serve. Sikh’s, such as Weer and Sham Singh,
with their culture of military service, were particularly
inclined to volunteer.
Most of these men were held in reserve, as their cultural
differences were considered inconvenient or their physical
stamina inadequate, amongst other excuses.
The fact that many of the Indians accepted for service were
assigned to the Māori reinforcements , shows a desire
amongst military administrators to keep non-white New
Zealanders out of general ranks.
Born in 1892 in Assam, India, Richard S. May was the son
of a British tea planter and an Indian woman. After migrating
to New Zealand he found work as a shepherd in Dipton,
Southland. He enlisted in August 1915, leaving New Zealand
with the 6th Reinforcements as a signaller.
After serving at Gallipoli, while in Egypt, he was offered
the position of interpreter – with the rank of Sergeant – for
the Indian troops stationed there, but declined promotion
and went on to France with his unit. He was killed in action
on September 15, 1916.
Image courtesy of the Harrison family archives.
 Lest We Forget The Other
Indian New Zealanders’ experience of World War I

Ratan Chand Mehra

Born in the Punjab in 1884, Ratan Chand Mehra moved
to New Zealand while his wife and his child remained in
India. He found employment in Taumaranui as a labour
and interpreter; working with a number fellow country-
men breaking in land and cutting scrub.
He enlisted in the New Zealand armed forces in 1915
The name of Ratan Chand Mehra, 3rd New Zealand
and was posted overseas the following year. Alongside
(Rifle) Brigade, 1 Battalion, inscribed on the wall of the his fellow riflemen, he saw action during the Somme
Hall of Memories, Auckland War Memorial Museum.
campaign in September 1916.
During the latter days of the Passchendaele offensive, from late October 1917, Mehra’s
Battalion was assigned to defend the Polygon Wood sector on the Ypres Salient. By this
time fighting in the area was sporadic, but it was still an active front.
Mehra was killed on 3rd December 1917 and is the only known Indian serving with the
New Zealand forces to have died in the war. The cause of his death is not known and
his body was never found.
India’s role in World War One
1.3 million Indian troops served
in World War One. 62,000 died
and 67,000 were wounded.
Around 15,000 Indians served
at Gallipoli, with close to 5,000
killed or wounded.

Indian Sappers and Miners with New Zealand troops at El Kubri, near Suez in Egypt,
1915. This photograph comes from the album of 3/221 Private Horace George Priestley, NZ
Medical Corps. Pākehā New Zealand soldiers frequently wrote with admiration for the
Indian troops they fought alongside in the middle east and at Gallipoli.
Image courtesy of National Army Museum Te Mata Toa, Waiouru. 1992.722.1

Contributions on the Home Front

The fear that New Zealanders of British descent
would be crowded out by Indians or Chinese is
reflected in this cartoon from The Free Lance in 1920.
Cartoon by Thomas Ellis Glover
Image courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington,
New Zealand. Ref: PUBL-0096-1920-029-1041-01.
New Zealand’s Indian community made significant
contributions to the war effort on the Home Front.
As they were (informally) barred from active service
by 1917, many took employment in areas vacated by
servicemen.
Horticultural production was a key area of support.
As soldiers returned at the end of the war, tension
occurred as white New Zealanders accused Indians
and Chinese of taking their jobs. This was unfair, as
their contribution was positive and their populations

very small.