TE HOKOWHITU-A-TU

Kaea, Issue 3, 1 June 1980, Page 4

TE HOKOWHITU-A-TU

28th (Maori) Battalion reunite at Kaitaia

Easter weekend saw the twelfth national reunion of the Maori Battalion, hosted this time by A Company at Kaitaia.

Over 400 veterans attended, their numbers swelled by other Maori members of the armed forces past and present, widows of members of the Battalion and, as special guests of honour, a contingent of Fijian veterans of the Second World War. There was also a large contingent from Ngati Kahungunu the last reunion had been hosted by D Company at Wairoa.

The splendid new Far North Community Centre was the venue for the occasion. Despite its sophisticated amenities, however, there were a few problems. One was the roadworks going on outside, and another was the weather. Though the sun shone for much of the time, there had been heavy rain during the previous week and the A and P showground behind the centre soon became muddy. With all the pedestrian and vehicular traffic around it very quickly came to resemble conditions on the Somme during the First World War rather than those of the Western Desert during the Second. But guests settled into their tents cheerfully enough, and the delight of greeting old mates fa t r outweighed any temporary practical discomforts. It was an emotional time for most people: a lingering hongi

between old soldiers who hadn’t seen each other since the last reunion, or maybe even since demobilisation; sadness for those who had passed on, and for those who had not survived the war; the inevitable reminiscences and old stories (one rather cynical visitor commented that you could hardly move without tripping over dead Germans); and the relaxing delights of the “wet canteen”, complete with sawdust floor, nikau walls and hay-bale seating.

Not that the reunion was all about booze and nostalgia. From the official welcoming ceremonies on Good Friday, there was an element of serious and often heated discussion on the role of the Battalion Association today, particularly with regard to our youth. The Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Ben Couch, laid a challenge at the feet of the Battalion in his speech:

Nothing can ever dim the memory of your achievements and of the sacrifices made by those of your friends who did not come back. It is a great and glorious story that deserves our gratitude and our respect. But that was thirty-five years ago ... Are still showing that same courage, that same leadership, that same example today?

He went on to say that the bewilderment, the alarming offending figures and the low achievement rate among our youth could be at least partly offset by the guidance, the leadership and the example of their elders, and he left his hearers with the suggestion that by their involvement with their marae, by teaching their mokopuna, and by raising money for scholarships, the Battalion Association could do more to show that same spirit in peacetime that they had so valiantly demonstrated in war. Mr Harry Lambert (who has succeeded Mr Ned Nathan as the Association’s president) replied. He admitted that the Minister was partly right, but urged that most members were certainly working hard within their communities. So indeed were many of the youth at the bottom of the debate. Even while the speeches were going on, the local Black Power were busy behind the kitchens preparing the evening meal, and one local elder, Te Aupouri’s Niki Conrad, paid tribute to their efforts: “These boys have been working hard. If the reunion is a success, much of the credit must go to them.” We found time and a quiet corner in which to interview Mr Harry Lambert, the new president of the Battalion Association. He was born in Hawkes Bay and served with D Company, but has lived in Auckland for many years. An educationalist with some original and stimulating views, he says, “I’m keen on education but I don’t mean schooling.” He’s critical of the present education system with its emphasis on rules and qualifications. “Qualifications for what? Our much-discussed gangs are dismissed because their members

lack qualifications. But they are qualified for certain things, and we should be positive about the good things they can and do do rather than moan because they don’t have those so-called vital pieces of paper.” He calls for a more open, camp-type system of school projects to be established on a sufficiently long-term basis to make an impression in terms of discipline. “But I don’t mean the yelling, fear-based discipline most people of my generation had to put up with. I’m talking about the kind of discipline which comes from an awareness of your own responsibilities to your colleagues and community.” Similarly, he does not champion a return of compulsory military training, as does his predecessor in the Association Ned Nathan, but he does think that some kind of national service would inculcate the necessary community values. Of his functions as Association president, he says: “In the army we were concerned to stay comfy and to stay alive and to do the same for our men. This is still one of my main aims. We’ve still got years ahead of us, and I’d like to see us channelling our energies into helping each other and our young people.” Tu Tangata? “I’ve heard it all before”, he says sceptically, “but I must admit that I’m a little bit sceptical about all government departments!” He admitted too, however, that he was a member of the local Tu Tangata group for Ngati Kahungunu, and appreciated that there exists a great deal of goodwill for the whole Tu Tangata concept. “But it’s up to Maori Affairs to co-ordinate that goodwill and provide it with the right support sustained support.”

The ultimate guest of honour at the reunion was Te Rau Aroha, the canteen truck which provided grateful Maori Battalion troops with home comforts while they were fighting in North Africa, Syria and Italy. During 1941, the children of the Native Schools raised nearly a thousand pounds to buy and equip the canteen, and it arrived near Tobruk at the end of the year. As official historian E.H. Nepia says, “Te Rau Aroha brought with it many material gifts, but to the heart of the Maori, many thousands of miles from his homeland, it brought something more the love and good wishes of every Maori child.” Te Rau Aroha suffered many adventures, as the patches over the bullet holes indicate. It was frequently where it shouldn’t have been. Ted Nepia continues: A story is told of the time when Te Rau Aroha, unique among Y.M.C.A. trucks, did become a fighting vehicle, It was at El Ageila, east of Tripoli, where Rommel had momentarily halted the spear-heads of the Eighth Army. A portion of the enemy forces had been cut off, and from their position the Maoris could see them not far away. With bayonets fixed, the Maoris prepared to charge. The Maori driver of the van charged too, and sped downhill. Afterwards an English officer said that he could hardly believe his eyes when he saw those fierce men racing downhill with a Y.M.C.A. van in their midst. Te Rau Aroha survived the war. Today it may be seen complete with its decorations: the 1939-45 Star, the Africa Star, the Italy Star and the Defence Medal, and its three wound stripes, it has been restored with “aroha and expertise”, in the words of Major General Poananga, by some of the youth of Manawatu and has now found its final home at the Waiouru Army Museum. During the parade on Good Friday it was driven past the men of each company. Many were visibly moved. None was more moved, however, than its driver, Bill Kukutai of Naenae, behindthe wheel again after thirty-six years. *

Many members were not familiar witth the far north, and eagerly took advantage of the buses laid on to take them up to Cape Reinga. Others attended the unveilings which occurred that weekend: at Te Kao for the Rev. Herepo Harawira, who had been a chaplain with the Battalion; and at Pukepoto for the Robson brothers. Meanwhile back in Kaitaia, guests could watch the film made of the Battalion’s pilgrimage to Europe, or could attend the Northland Axemen’s championships or the rugby. In the evenings were concerts, a ball and a disco. Te Rarawa Maori Group’s enthusiastically received performances were interspersed with songs in Italian and German by any member who could be enticed onto the stage by the Rev. Wi Huata, who was billed as Master of Ceremonies not that proceedings were unduly ceremonious. * At least one member had come all the way from Sydney. George Sutherland, who organised the Polynesian Festival in Sydney in February, spoke after the haicari at Waimirirangi marae which followed the Rev. Herepo Harawira’s unveiling. Of the Maori community in Sydney he said that traditional patterns of movement and settlement were still continuing, that in effect a new tribe was in the throes of creation. Despite the bad press which Australia’s Maori population had received both there and at home in New Zealand, many Maori cared and fought hard for their reputation and for their integrity as Maori. Marae schemes and cultural groups were abundant, and those who went to live in Australia were in many cases not turning their back on their Maoritanga on the contrary, they were extending it. * And finally, after the poroporoaki on Easter Monday, the buses headed for home to Whangarei, Auckland and points further south. The tinge of sadness at any such time was much stronger on this occasion. Retiring president Ned Nathan summed it up: “Let’s face it, this is probably our last reunion on this scale. None of us is getting any younger.”