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Remembered Today:

NZ WW1 KIA Southland


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Any info on these would be greatly appreciated. What they were for, where worn etc etc.

I have never heard of them before and presume they were peculiar to the Kiwis

Thanks.

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Any info on these would be greatly appreciated. What they were for, where worn etc etc.

I have never heard of them before and presume they were peculiar to the Kiwis

Thanks.

link

From the context of your query, do you think these badges were worn by the friends of people killed in action? Can't think what else you mean?

"Kia Mate" is simply the unit motto, in Maori.

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That is exactly the way I had read it.

I thought they were some sort of commemoration for a lost friend......shows what I know.

Thanks for putting me right.

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"Kia Mate" is simply the unit motto, in Maori.

dumb question time

so what does 'kia mate' actually mean?

thanks

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"Kia Mate" is simply the unit motto, in Maori.

dumb question time

so what does 'kia mate' actually mean?

thanks

No idea, but Christine Liava'a will know!

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Well, I don't speak Maori, but looking it up in the dictionary it seems to mean "Until death" ;

kia- a preposition leading to the future, and mate- dead or death

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These are the collar dogs for the 8th Southland Rifles Regiment.

This unit was formed 17 March 1911 and amalgamated with the 14th South Otago Regiment to become the Southland Regiment.

The motto translates to 'Fight unto death.'

These are the collar dogs as the warriors face towards each other and the cap badge was exactly the same, but noticibly larger.

The warrior design is incorporated into the current 4th Bn (Otago and Southland) Bn Group collar dog. This is a Territorial Force Bn.

More info can be found in D.A Corbett's book, 'The Regimental Badges of New Zealand."

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And if I can just have a pedant moment here for a second......

NZ Terrritorial Regiments supplied Companys to composite Bns throughout the war.

Thus the 8th Southland always composed the 2nd Company of whichever Otago Regiment they were in.

The 2nd Brigade had the 1st and 2nd Bns, Otago Regiment.

The 3rd Bde had the 3rd Bn and the 4th Bde had the 4th Bn.

Instead of having a Bn comprised solely of the 8th Southland Regiment, it was spread throughout several Bdes. This I assume was a deliberate policy to ensure that certain districts did not get slaughtered if a Bn attack went awry.

They did the same in the next round of hostilities, but the numbering gets even worse!

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