[SAMOA] Lt. Gaunt’s squad drilling. (Apia, 1899).

Albumen print photograph, 145 x 200 mm, laid down on its original card mount, 245 x 295 mm; ms. caption in the negative reads: ‘6395. Lt. Gaunt’s Squad drilling. Burton Bros. Dunedin. Protected, Oct. ’99’; the print is in good condition; the mount is sunned at the edges and has a tiny amount of insect damage at bottom right corner.

Lieutenant (later Sir) Guy Reginald Archer Gaunt raised this native troop, known unofficially as Gaunt’s Squad, in 1899 during the Second Samoan Civil War. These fighters were loyal to Malietoa Tanumafili I, and fought alongside the British and Americans against Samoan rebels loyal to Mata’afa Iosefo.