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Cenotaph Record
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Full Name
Peni Meta
Rank Last Held
Private
Forename(s)
Peni
Surname
Meta
Also Known As
  • Peni Hipa
  • Peni
  • Peni Meta
War
World War I, 1914-1918
Serial No.
16/1115
Gender
Male
Date of Birth
1896
Place of Birth
Niue Island, Pacific Islands
First Known Rank
Private
Occupation before Enlistment
Settler
Next of Kin
Puakafa (wife), Hikutavake, Niue Island, Pacific Islands
Marital Status
Married
Enlistment Address
Hikutavake, Niue Island, Pacific Islands
Physical Description
  • Height: 5 foot 6.5 inches
  • Weight: 151 pounds
Enlistment Date
14 October 1915
Military District
Niue Island
Body on Embarkation
3rd Maori Contingent
Embarkation Unit
Rarotongans, Attached B Company
Embarkation Date
5 February 1916
Place of Embarkation
Auckland, New Zealand
Transport
HMNZT 44
Vessel
Navua
Destination
Suez,Egypt (15 March 1916)
Nominal Roll Number
25
Page on Nominal Roll
4
Campaigns
Egypt
Military Awards
  • British War Medal (1914-1920)
  • Victory Medal
Last Unit Served
New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion
Place of Death
At sea on board HT Corinthic en route to New Zealand
Date of Death
23 June 1916
Age at Death
20
Year of Death
1916
Cause of Death
Pneumonia
Memorial Name
Wellington Provincial Memorial, Wellington, New Zealand
Biographical Notes
  • Son of Hipa and Fokitifa.
  • Four sons, brothers enlisted: Peni (16/1115), Hemu (16/1052), Hipa (16/1053) and Pulu (16/1107) (Pointer 2000, p. 16).
  • Departed Alofi, Niue Island on 14 October 1915 on board SS Te Anau
  • Arrived Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand on 19 October 1915 (Pointer 2000, p. 18).
  • Sailed from Alexandria, Egypt, to Marseilles, France, on board SS Ivernia on 20 May 1916. (Pointer 2000, p. 173)
  • Sailed from England to New Zealand on board HT Corinthic on 17 June 1916. (Pointer 2000, p. 174)
  • "On 23 June 1916, just before reaching Dakar, 16/1115 Private Peni died in the ship's hospital of pneumonia and was buried at sea that same day." (Pointer 2000, p. 58)
Description of Image
Portrait, Auckland Weekly News 1916
Additional Information
  • Attested as Peni, and named as Peni on the Nominal Roll. Name Meta added to Service Record 1923
  • The portrait of Private Peni, which appeared in the Auckland Weekly News (5 October 1916, p. 40) incorrectly records him as having died of wounds.
Archives NZ source
Military personnel file
Further References
Pointer, M. (2000). pp. 16, 18, 58-59, 94, 137, 171, 173, 174.
Sources Used
  • Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington: Govt. Printer, 1917
  • Pointer, M. (2000). Tagi tote e loto haaku - My heart is crying a little : Niue Island involvement in the Great War, 1914-1918. Alofi, Niue ; Suva, Fiji: Government of Niue ; Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific.