N.Z. MAORI FORCE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20084, 2 November 1939, Page 6

N.Z. MAORI FORCE

| OFFICER SELECTION EUROPEAN NOMINEES ! RECRUITERS DISTURBED i MANY QUERIES RAISED ! Recruiting officers in this district for ! the special Maori Battalion have been j faced with questions which reveal the I close and keen interest taken by the I natives of Gisborne in the raising and j officering of the special corps. These | questions have been prompted by a i statement from Army headquarters I that nominations of Europeans for | appointment as company commanders | and other commissioned posts in the ! Maori Battalion will be considered. It is pointed out that at a previous : stage in the discussions of enlisting Maoris for service at home or overi seas, the undertaking was given that, ■ j except for the higher commands, the j battalion would be officered by I members of the native race. If Europeans are to be commissioned as com- ■ I pany commanders, the Maoris now ! feel, it will be a breach of this

understanding. On the oJier hand, if the appoinl- | merits cf Europeans as commanders of : units are to be only for the training i period, there need be no objections I raised. The system of officering the i Maori Battalion for training purposes j by Europeans served well in the ini- ' ti'al stages of the war of 1914-18, and I all objections which might have arisen i at that time were dissolved when the Europeans were withdrawn from company and platoon commands before the departure of the battalion for overseas service. A clarification of the policy of Army headquarters on this point would be | welcomed by the native population, it is stated, for if the Maoris are left to draw their own inferences from last night's published statement, it J may affect seriously the recruiting i prospects of the new battalion. More Enlistments

Further enlistments from among i the Maoris of Gisborne and the East I Coast are as under: — Koran, Mohi, married, '■',{ years, | Rangitukia, farm labourer. Tako, Were Makariti. married, 22 i years, Wai-o-matatini, drover. Nukunuku, Wi. married, 27 years. ! Tikitiki, motor driver. Hiroki, Wiremu, married, 23 years, 1 Tikitiki, farmer. Warihi Tako, Were Makarini, marI ried, 22 years, Ruatoria, labourer. Tieki Rangi, Keepa, single, 33 j years, Ruatoria, labourer. ; Ruatoria, labourer. i Edwards, Tom, single, 21 years, I Ruatoria, labourer. Manuel, Ilori, married, 23 years, ! Waitakaroa, shearer. Te Weehi, Tamati, married, 23 years, i Ruatoria, scheme worker. Brown, William, single, 2G years, I Frasertown, labourer. Stirling, Tai, single, 22 years, | Ruatoria. labourer.

Poutu, Raana, single, 27 years, Hicks Bay, labourer. I Awatere, Apaeta, married, 20 years, 110 Crawford road, Gisborne, clerk. Rangihuna, Tamati, married, 35 years, Te Araroa, labourer. Kiwi, Hoana Remana, single, 45 years, Wainui, labourer. Tuhaka, Tauranga, married. 37 years, Rangitukia, labourer. Kaa Kawa, married, 28 years, Rangitukia, shearing expert. Huihui, Watene, single, 43 years, Tikitiki, carpenter. Te Moananui, Stewart, married, 37 years, Waipiro Bay, labourer. Harawira, P. te Wai, married, 43 | years, Ruatoria, storeman. \ Kanuta, Grey, married, 37 years, ! Rangitukia, farm worker.