Remembering Private Charlie Hillman in France

An East Coast whānau are off to the village of Staple in northern France to take part in the dedication of two new street names that connect to their tipuna, Charlie Hillman, who died while serving in World War 1. 

On Sunday August 20, a whānau ope (group) of 12 from the Hillman-Korohina whānau will travel to the village to celebrate the naming of Rue Charlie Hillman and Rue des Maoris. (Rue is French for street.)

The Mayor of Staple, Eddie Defevere, approached the whānau for permission to use the names.

It is the result of a relationship between the two groups built up over the past eight years, but which actually has its beginnings over 100 years ago.

In 1916, Private Charlie Hillman of the 2nd Māori Pioneer Battalion was buried in the church cemetery in Staple, a village surrounded today by farmland.

The settlement lies close to the Western Front along which battles raged throughout the four years of World War 1 as Germany and the Allied forces fought.

Charlie Hillman was born in 1880 in Waipiro Bay. He was 36 when he died in France on August 20, 1916.  It was the time of the longest land battle in history, the Battle of Verdun. The casualties were enormous, and battlefield conditions barbaric.

Back in Aotearoa, whānau were surprised to learn that every year the villagers of Staple remembered Charlie Hillman on the day of his death, and on November 11, Armistice Day.

In 2015, Ā tene Andrews, a descendant of Charlie Hillman, received an email from Mrs Noella Tahon, a retired history teacher from Staple tasked with finding out if Charlie had any descendants or whānau.

She had found Atene’s name on the Gallipoli centennial ballot list. The Government had released the names of the successful applicants for 950 passes available for the centenary commemorations at Gallipoli.

“The fluke of finding my name on the ballot list led her to me. Taku ingoa ko Anthony (Ātene) Hillman Andrews,” said Ātene Andrews, the whānau coordinator.

From Gallipoli in April 2015, Ātene and his travel buddy made the trip to Staple.

So began a friendship with the people of the French village, and those connected through whakapapa to Charlie Hillman.

Since the Gallipoli centennial celebrations, whānau from Ireland, England and Aotearoa have visited Staple to pay their respects to Charlie.

In February 2019, Staple Mayor Eddie Defevere, his wife Florence and daughter Julia came to Aotearoa and were hosted by Ngāti Porou.

During their time here they experienced a pōwhiri at Matahi o Te Tau marae in Horoera, climbed to the East Cape Lighthouse, presented a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron and a photo of Charlie to the Matakaoa RSA, and climbed the maunga of Ngāti Porou, Hikurangi.They also enjoyed classic Tairāwhiti delicacies of kōura and a pāua pie from Cafe 35 in Tokomaru Bay.  They visited the Gisborne Cenotaph War Memorial and C Company Māori Battalion Memorial House, where they were given a mihi whakatau.

“Kāre a Staple i te wareware — Staple does not forget,” said Mayor Eddie Defevere.

Ātene Andrews said that despite Covid 19, Cyclone Gabrielle, the flooding devastation on the Coast and the cost-of-living crisis, “it will be wonderful for the whānau to be present and hosted by Staple for such a special once-only dedication event”.

“Kāre i te whānau o Taare Heremana i te wareware i a ia me ngā tāngata hūmarie o te kāenga o Staple.”

Ngāti Porou East Coast whānau also want to ensure that here on the East Cape, “the whānau of Charlie Hillman  do not forget Charlie and the wonderful people of the village of Staple.”

They will also be visiting Dunkirk and other cemeteries linked to the whānau.