Major Vercoe (Henry Te Reiwhati Vercoe) is interviewed by Geoffrey Bridson of the BBC about the history of the Tauranga area and Maori farming techniques. (Recorded in Rotorua by the Mobile Recording Unit. Recordings were for broadcast by the BBC and ABC (Australia) ahead of the planned royal visit by King George VI, which did not eventuate.)
Major Vercoe speaks about the Battle of Gate Pā in April 1864, between British troops and Māori - in the Tauranga Campaign of the New Zealand Wars. Major Vercoe's grandfather was killed in the battle.
In 1900 he was in South Africa with the New Zealand contingent, and then he went to Egypt, Gallipoli, France, and Belgium in World War I. He trained troops in New Zealand during World War II.
He speaks about changes he has seen in Māori farming in the Tauranga district. Each Māori family had their cultivation, using horses and bullocks to till the soil. Recently, Māori have taken up dairying quite substantially.
At the time of the interview, Major Vercoe is a temporary officer with the Māori Department.