Josef Babich was born in 1894 in Dalmatia, then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
He left Dalmatia at 14 years of age. 

Dalmatia is a province of the central Adriatic coast of Croatia.
For centuries it was exploited by the city-state of Venice and the Austro-Hungarian empire. Opportunities for illiterate peasants,
living on rocky islands and a ribbon of fertile coast,
were limited to subsistence farming, grape-growing, quarrying, fishing and seafaring.
In the 1880s a population increase put pressure on scarce land.
In 1892 Austria-Hungary signed a trade agreement with Italy that excluded Dalmatia.
Around the same time the pest phylloxera arrived in Dalmatia, decimating vineyards.
In search of better opportunities, men sailed for the far corners of the world.
Many were also escaping the Austrian army’s conscription, introduced in 1881.

The first Dalmatians in New Zealand probably arrived via the Californian and Australian goldfields.
By the early 1860s they were prospecting South Island diggings.
In the 1880s some began pulling golden kauri gum from Northland’s gumfields.
Wayfarers returning home described ‘Nova Zelanda’ as a land of good prospects.

Josef planted some vines in Herekino, near the gum fields.
These were successful and he moved to West Auckland.
During WW1, Josef was declared an alien
and forced to work for soldier’s pay on land clearance, drainage, and road and rail projects.
All the while, he tended his vines.

He met Mere Brennan at a Church picnic.
They married in 1913,
and had 5 children:
Luka b. 1915
Marta b. 1917
Dominik b. 1919
Mia b. 1921
Jakov b. 1923.

Mere Babich was born in 1895.
She was the youngest child and only daughter of Aidan and Marama Brennan.
Three of her brothers were killed during World War 1 at Chanuk Bair.
She never knew her eldest brother who was raised in the Bay of Plenty.

Mere worked at home helping her parents on her mother's tribal land.
She enjoyed helping at the marae
and learning all about her Maori culture.

Mere met Josef Babich at a Church picnic.
He was a gum digger and fledgling wine maker!
They married in 1913,
and had 5 children:
Luka b. 1915
Marta b. 1917
Dominik b. 1919
Mia b. 1921
Jakov b. 1923.

The couple moved to West Auckland
and developed large vineyards there.
Mere immersed herself in the Dalmatian culture
and was in turn loved by the extended Babich family.

Jock MacGregorwas born in Aberdeen, Scotland.
He emigrated to New Zealand with his parents and 5 brothers.
Jock did not have a Teacher's Certificate.
He began as a Pupil-teacher –
an older pupil who was paid a pittance for teaching younger children.
But Jock was an inspirational teacher.
One ex-pupil recalled,
"In Mr. MacGregor's class you worked ...
His vigour and personal style –
virtuosity, really –
kindled intellectual activity in an extraordinary way."

He met Alison Hughes while on holiday at Hanmer Springs.
They married in 1920
and had 4 children:
Davis b. 1921
Lara b. 1923
Lachlan b. 1925
Bonnie b. 1927.

Alison Hughes was born in 1895,
to school teacher David and his wife, Annette Hughes,
while they were living in Northland, New Zealand.
She was the younger sister of Margaret.
Alison was engaged to Rangi, Raniera's youngest brother.
After news of Rangi's death at Chanuk Bair,
Alison moved to the South Island of New Zealand
to live with her parents.

The family loved to visit the geothermal spa at Hanmer Springs.
It was there she met Southland teacher, Jock MacGregor.
They married in 1920
and had 4 children:
Davis b. 1921
Lara b. 1923
Lachlan b. 1925
Bonnie b. 1927.

Rangi Brennan was born in 1894,
to Aidan and Marama Brennan.
He was their 4th son,
and the 3rd to die at Chanuk Bair, Turkey, during WW1.

Rangi was a hardworking forestry worker,
felling native timbers for the construction industry in Auckland.

He was engaged to Alison Hughes,
the sister of Margaret, his brother Raniera's wife.
Unfortunately, Rangi died at Chanuk Bair.
During the assault on Chanuk Bair,
50 Maori lost their lives.
The gallantry of the NZ Maori at Gallipoli
had earned the respect and admiration of the British troops.

Te Ope Tuatahi (Recruitment Song)
Sir Apirana Ngata's 1916 version)

E te ope tuatahi                    We greet our first war band
No Aotearoa,                        From Aotea-roa,
No Te Wai-pounamu,            From the Island of Greenstone:
No nga tai e wha.                  We sing of our warriors
Ko koutou ena                      Our gallant Five Hundred
E nga rau e rima,                  The chosen heroes
Ko te Hokowhitu toa             Of Tu-mata-uenga,
A Tu-mata-uenga:                The Angry-Eyed War God.
I hinga ki Ihipa,                     Some fell in Egypt,
Ki Karipori ra ia;                    Some on Gallipoli;
E ngau nei te aroha,              Now pangs of sharp sorrow
Me te mamae.                       Our sad hearts are piercing.

Anahera Hone was born in 1894 on the Kaipara Harbour.
She was the seventh and youngest child.
Anahera worked in the local store.
She was a reliable and innovative employee.

Anahera married Wiremu Brennan in 1912.
They had 1 child:
Whina b. 1913.
After Wiremu's death at Chanuk Bair,
Anahera migrated south to Wellington to make a fresh start.
She gained employment as an apprentice chocolatier at Whittaker's factory.

Wiremu Brennan was born in 1892,
the 3rd son of Aidan and Marama Brennan.
He worked on his mother's tribal land,
clearing and developing pasture for dairy farming.

At the outbreak of WW1, Wiremu joined the Native Contingent.
The S.S.Warrimoo left Wellington with the 1st Batallion on 15th February, 1915.
The Battallion arrived at Anzac Cove on 3rd July, 1915.
They joined with the NZ Mounted Rifles
and were deployed as Infantry soldiers.
Wiremu died alongside his brother, Raniera.

In 1912, Wiremu married Anahera Whata.
They had 1 child:
Whina b. 1913.

Harry McKenzie was an immigrant from Scotland.
A hard-working shepherd in the Scottish Highlands,
he quickly established his reputation on a high country station
on the slopes of the Southern Alps.

Harry was an outstanding dog trialist.
New Zealanders began this unusual sport at Hakataramea, South Canterbury, in 1889,
only 13 years after the first recorded public sheep-dog trials at Bala, Wales.
The first trials in the North Island were at Porangahau in 1892.

 Harry McKenzie met Margaret Brennan through mutual friends.
Margaret also had a love of dogs and would often take her daughter, Susan,
with her to watch the sheep dog trials.
They married in 1918.
Margaret and Harry had 2 children:
Charlotte b. 1920
Georgia b. 1922.

Margaet Hughes was born in 1892
to English school teacher David Hughes, and his wife Annette.
Her parents moved to North Canterbury in 1912.
She lived at home until she married Raniera Brennan in 1910.
They had 2 children:
Rawiri b. 1911
Susan b. 1913.

There was no conscription for Maori until 1917.
Raniera was eager to enlist so he joined a provincial contingent in 1914.
(The target for recruiters was 150 recruits every 4 weeks.)
He died at Gallipoli less than a year later.

Margaret was devastated.
She left Rawiri with her parents-in-law,
and took Susan with her to live with her parents in North Canterbury.
There she met a high country shepherd, Harry McKenzie.
They married in 1918.
Margaret had 2 more children:
Charlotte b. 1920
Georgia b. 1922.

Raniera Brennan was the second son of Aidan and Marama Brennan.
He was born in 1890 in Rawene.
Raniera worked as a labourer and farm worker on his mother's tribal lands.
He had forward thinking ideas on how to develop and improve the profitability of this land.

World War 1 started in 1914.
There was no conscription for NZ Maori until 1917
but Raniera was keen to enlist.
He joined a provincial contingent,
which had a target of 150 recruits every 4 weeks.
His contingent sailed for Egypt and then for Gallipoli,
where Raniera and thousands of other young men died.

Raniera met Margaret Hughes at the local country school
where they were both pupils.
Margaret's father taught at the school.
Maori was forbidden to be spoken at the school,
although it was still spoken at home.

Margaret and Raniera married in 1910.
They had 2 children:
Rawiri b. 1911
Susan b. 1913.