Page 18 - Puhipi

him by Smith from the sternpost of his war canoe. His particular antipathy was the

flagstaff on Maiki Hill behind Kororareka which was used as a signal station and from
which the British colours flew.

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Heke decided to cut it down, and on July 8 1844 down it came, chopped through by
one of Hekes followers. Fitzroy with few forces could do little more than listen to

grievances, remove the customs duties, ask that the aggression be not repeated, try to
influence the other chiefs to keep Heke in order and put up a new flagstaff. But on
January 10 1845 down it came again. This was resistance to British rule that could
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not be tolerated.

Fitzroy mustered what forces he had, called to Sydney for assistance and took steps to
defend Kororareka. A new flagstaff, the base sheathed in iron for 10ft was put up and
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a blockhouse built around it. On March 11 1845, Hekes men attacked and captured
the blockhouse and cut down the flagstaff for the fourth time. Meanwhile Hekes ally
Kawiti attacked the town and in the half light of early morning fought a fierce hand
to hand combat with a small and gallant detachment of sailors from HMS Hazard who

set to in the traditional way with their cutlasses and drove the Maori party slowly out
of the town. But eventually the place was evacuated, the civilians taking to the ships
in the bay. The ships bombarded the town, an act that greatly angered the Maori who
then looted it and burnt it to the ground, sparing the Anglican Church and the Catholic
Bishop Pompalliers home, both of which still stand today. Thus did wicked little

Kororareka vanish in a pall of black smoke. The war in the north had begun.

The significance of the flagpole incident is that although there were to be long periods

of uneasy peace, from that time Maori and Pakeha in one part of the Nth Island to
another were to eye one another over rifle sights for nearly thirty years.

The first action against Heke was at Okaihau or properly Puketutu Pa, by lake
Omapere. In this action the British gained an insight into the type of fighter they would

encounter. Although Maori casualties were heavier, the Pa was not taken and the
retirement of the British force indicated a virtual Maori victory. But Fitzroys
diplomacy had borne fruit and Tamati Waka Nene who had promised to keep Heke in
order was as good as his word. His men took the field when the British had moved off

it and won a significant action in which Heke himself was badly wounded. The British
returned to the attack at nearby Ohaeawai where Kawiti gave them a bad mauling,
greatly aided by the incomprehensible decision by the British commander to send his
men in a frontal attack on the immensely strong Maori position.

Governor George Grey, a strong leader and able administrator succeeded Fitzroy and
ended the war with the capture of Ruapekapeka, the “Bats Nest”. All who took part
on Hekes side were pardoned and no punishment was exacted in the way of land

confiscations as it was to be elsewhere. The north made peace and kept it.