OBITUARY

Opotiki News, Volume X, Issue 1042, 31 October 1947, Page 2

OBITUARY

MR. RIHIMOANA DAVIS Mr. Rihimoaua Davis, of Karctu, Bay of Islands, has died,'aged 35. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry while serving with the Maori Battalion in the Middle East in 1942. Sergeant Davis single-handed attacked and killed the crew of ten manning an 88 mm. gun and then used the gun .effectively against two enemy machine-gun posts. When the enemy counter-attacked, and while his company was in a precarious position he used a captured ma-chine-gun to good effect. Educated at the Mangaterctere school, Hastings, and the Torei'e native school, Opotiki, Mr. Davis was employed by the Railway Department at the time of his enlistment. lie volunteered for the first railway unit formed for overseas service, but later joined a reinforcement draft of the Maori Battalion. He took part in the second Libyan campaign, and was wounded at Gazala. Mr. Davis, who was commissioned later, was a married man with a family. lie was a son of Mr. U. Davis, late of Opotiki.