Auckland Museum · Pou KanohiLetters from the front line
Serbian refugees on the road during the retreat to the Adriatic Sea, December 1915.© IWM (Q52302)

War chronicle · Oketopa 1915–Pepuere 1916 · Belgrade, Serbia

Te hinganga nui o Hawia

Ka manenetia te Kāwanatanga o Hawia, ka mau te iwi hei herehere, ka mauheretia, ka kōhurutia.

I te 14 o Oketopa, ka whakapuakina e te Kīngitanga o Purukēria tō rātou riri ki a Hawia. Ka whawhai tahi rātou ko ngā Mana o Waenga ki te huaki i te riri i ngā wāhi maha. Kua pau te kaha o te ope taua o Hawia – kua ātete kē rātou i ngā kōkiringa e toru i mua i tēnei.

Heoi, ka kore te Kāwanatanga o Hawia i tautuku, ka manenetia kē ki te whenua o Parihi. Ka whai te 300,000 hōia o Hawia i tō rātou tauira. Ka whakawhitia te pae maunga o Albania kia puta rātou i te tai o Adria – i te hōtoke. Heoi, ka mate tētahi haurua o rātou i te ara. Ka tūhono atu ngā mōrehu ki ngā Ope Haumi ki te tai o Adria kia hoki rātou katoa ki Hawia anō.

I ngā tau e toru whai muri mai, ka pā kinotia te iwi o Hawia. He ngahuru mano te nui o tōna iwi i tukuna ki ngā puni a te riri, i whakaputaina ki whenua kē rānei hei ringa raupā. He mano anō ka kōhurutia, ka mauheretia, ka tūkinotia hoki rānei e ngā ope taua o Ateria-Hanekari me Purukēria.

Photos & objects

A Serbian officer looking at a dead Serbian soldier, frozen on the side of the road, during the retreat to the Adriatic Coast, December 1915.
A Serbian officer looking at a dead Serbian soldier, frozen on the side of the road, during the retreat to the Adriatic Coast, December 1915.© IWM (Q52284)