Oral History Fiji Society

05/10/2026

Fiji Government Archivist

05/10/2026

Flashback:?Was there segrations happening in 🇫🇯Fiji in the heydays⁉️🧐
Have a listen to 's account and share your thoughts.
Credit: Salt of the Earth Production

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EqQNLJ4mM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

02/10/2026

02/10/2026

02/10/2026

Interesting stories and connections with Tonga 🇹🇴& Fiji 🇫🇯 from the lenses of a Western Allies🇳🇿 [🇦🇺🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦] during the World War in ancient times.
We're reading the stories shared by On This Day - Fiji Military History is lifted from a New Zealand (NZ) Archived Source.
The stories reconnects us to the deep relationships built by our Ancestral Forefathers then and which still resonates with us today. After all as the saying goes in our Indigenous Fijian Intangible Cultural Heritage, each time we stand up to speak on matters relating to , "we, [each] are standing on the shoulders of our Indigenous Fijian Ancestors". Let's ensure those words we utter are those that help strengthen our resolve and commradeship with others as we journey into the unknown future that is ahead of us.
May God Bless Fiji and all its Neighbors in Oceania and beyond.
Team Viti
AiViti
Fijian Language Academy
Oral History Fiji Society
Radio Viti e Aotearoa
Oral History Queensland
Oral History NSW

Malo e lelei, to our Tongan readers,

We are providing a copy of a report written by Lieutenant Ben MASEFIELD on 1 June 1943, while Tongan soldiers were serving in the Solomon Islands with the First Commandos Fiji Guerrillas. We found this while researching their Fijian comrades.

The report provides an update on what the Tongan personnel had been doing since their deployment forward, and mentions individuals by name, including Vuni B, J. Ma'aji (should this read Ma'asi?), Henry Taliai, Sergeant Inukiha'agana, Lance Corporal Tafa and others. Please note, a number of these men went on to win honours.

The report covers their sports activities, patrols, living conditions and health, as well as the day-to-day experiences of the men.

MASEFIELD is highly respected, but what we think is particularly special about this report is the clear admiration he shows for his Tongan personnel. His comments give a very personal insight into the men he was responsible for, beyond the usual operational record.

MASEFIELD stated that he intended to send similar reports back on a monthly basis. Tragically, he was killed less than six weeks later by friendly artillery fire. He was just 22 years old.

We have included the Archives New Zealand request sheet at the front of the PDF, in case anyone wants to cite the report in their own research. It includes the archival reference details so can be found in their catalogue, with our personal information redacted.

We don't know whether His Majesty's Armed Forces - Tonga has a history unit, so we wanted to make the report available to all interested Tongans, particularly those who may recognise the names of their ancestors.

We hope this is okay, Archives New Zealand!

PS: It is a big file! The report is handwritten and we think it is relatively clear, but if anyone needs a transcription, please let us know.

Click this link and it should open the PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EMbrsbhiiNacsu5BkHd2OU2fIE7gO4U7/view?usp=sharing

02/10/2026

02/10/2026

Na i Tovo vaka-Viti ena loma ni Vuvale vaka Turaga mai Naisogolaca e Bau.
~

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27/09/2026

Eso na i Tukutuku Maroroi e na Tabana ni Mataivalu ni Viti ena Gauna ni Koloni
-Credit: On This Day - Fiji Military History

– 24 September 1919

The War Office forwards documents relating to members of the Fiji Labour Corps to the Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Fiji. The War Office was the British government department responsible for administering the British Army.

The transfer was recorded in a letter from the Crown Agents for the Colonies to the Colonial Secretary, Fiji, dated 20 May 1938. The Crown Agents for the Colonies were a British government body responsible for managing financial, administrative and commercial matters for British colonies.

The same letter records a separate discovery: six further sets of documents relating to deceased members of the Fiji Labour Corps had recently been found at the War Office and transmitted to the Crown Agents. We do not know where these files went - we did not find them at the Archives.

The six men were:

No. 57 Private Sakiusa QANIUCI – died 5 December 1918

No. 41 Private Kaiava RAICIUCIU – died 16 February 1918

No. 67 Private Lekima MUA – died 1 January 1918

No. 11 Private Avenisa KALAVO – died 23 June 1918

No. 34 Private Sevuloni TAVAGA – died 4 July 1918

No. 40 Private Maciu NATOGA – died 22 June 1918

For these six men, their military service had ended with their deaths more than 20 years earlier. Yet their papers were still being discovered, transferred and accounted for within the British colonial administration.

The letter reminds us that the surviving records of the Fiji Labour Corps were (are?!) scattered across offices and institutions far from Fiji. The documents relating to other members of the Corps had been forwarded by the War Office to Fiji on 24 September 1919.

Behind each set of papers was a Fijian serviceman whose name, service and death won't be forgotten to history.



--
Sources:

Ministry of Information & National Archives (Crown Agents for the Colonies letter to the Colonial Secretary, Fiji (20 May 1938))

25/06/2026

STORY📰 The first New Zealand military medals featuring His Majesty King Charles III have been presented to our personnel.

Ten personnel, who recently returned from a deployment to Operation Farad in Egypt, were the first to receive a New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 with clasp ‘Sinai’ featuring the effigy (image) of the King.

Deputy Director Medals Policy, Donald Anderson, says since the 1950s, the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has been on the front of tens of thousands of medals issued to members of the New Zealand Armed Forces.

Full story ➡️ nzdf.mil.nz/King-Charles-III-Medals