69903 Pte Awatere WR

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William Reginald AWATERE was born at Waipiro Bay, and was the 16th child born to Keita and Pehikuru Awatere.William was educated at Manutahi Primary School and Ngata Memorial College Ruatoria. William excelled in sport at Ngata Memorial College, but rugby was where he really shone, this earned him a place in the first fifteen for a number of years. Most of Williams weekends were spent at Whakarua park to cheer the local rugby teams along. William was also a member of the Hikurangi junior choir and kapa haka group and he really gave it his all, competing at many Hui Topu, hosted by different rohe throughout the motu. After leaving school William went to Wellington to begin his carpentry apprenticeship at Trentham. He completed this in three years and worked around Wellington before joining the Army. William was hungry for new challenges and he wanted to serve in the Army like his great uncle Colonel Arapeta Awatere. William did his training at Trentham Military Camp and deployed to Malaysia for further training and then deployed to Vietnam in the sixties. William kept in touch with mum and many other whanau members by letters when he got time to write home. Life as he once wrote wasn't a bed of roses it was scary and dangerous.    

William was tragically taken from us 12/04/1968.William was a caring, good and fun loving brother to all his brothers and sisters young and old. We each hold many happy memories of William