When The Maoris Come Home Again?

New Zealand Listener, Volume 11, Issue 283, 24 November 1944, Page 11

When The Maoris Come Home Again?

HORTLY after the fighting ended in North Africa I asked Major-General Kippenberger if the Maoris were really as good soldiers as repért said" It was a private conversation, and I would not have felt free to report it if the answer had been unfavourable. But this was the answer, made after a brief pause for refléction: "They are better. The full story has "never yet been told. Given the same equipment I think they would beat any other battalion in the world." I thought of that conversation a few weeks ago when I heard a member of the House of Representatives asking for the appointment of Maoris to the Broadcasting Service — apparently without knowing that of three Maoris who were in the Service in Wellington when the

war started one had been killed in the Air Force, one was a prisoner of war, and the other was recovering from multiple wounds received at the head of his battalion in Tunisia.

I thought of it again this morning when I met Lt.-Col. C. M. Bennett, D.S.O., for he is of course the third of those men. He was making his first call as a convalescent, and although he was sunk in an arm-chair when I entered the room, since he had not yet recovered the use of one of his legs, I was struck at once by the dignity of his appearance. He was an announcer when I had seen him last, good-looking and well-spoken, but not otherwise arresting unless one was sentimental about Maoris. Now he filled’ the room-a soldier, a leader, a presence. The war had awakened and enlarged him. So I wondered, and then asked, what it had done to other Maoris. Would they come back and resume their lives where they had*left off, three, four, or five years ago, or would they be changed men too? "It Depends on Leadership" Colonel Bennett thought this over for a moment or two before he answered. It is one of the pleasant habits of Maoris -flattering to the questioner as well as a mark of wisdom in themselves-that they do not often answer point-blank. "T think," he said finally, "that it begins and ends with leadership. If they are well led, they will go on. If they are not, they will drift." "Can they be well led? I mean, are there leaders available that they will accept?" "Yes, I think so. The war has given them leaders whom they know and trust, but continuity is the problem."

"You mean that when the Battalion comes home the military leaders may lose their hold?" "I think there is a risk of that. In the field we are all one people, though we retain our tribal divisions to some extent. But as soon as we are all back in New Zealand we shall be divided by party politicians." "Did you discuss politics in the field -argue about your future in relation either to the pakeha or to. one another?"

"Never. One company was Ngapuhi, another Arawa, a third East Coast, and the fourth composite; but we were all Maoris." Discipline and Tribal Status "What about your. discipline?" "It was both very loose and very tight. In the front areas we all lived together, officers and men _ without distinction; but in action obedience to officers was absolute." Was that tribal or mili"Both. Tribal status is important, but only in addition to capacity. It. will hot give a man authority if

he tacks intelligence and courage." "And your suggestion is that the men who became leaders by those tests overseas should continue to lead in New Zealand?" "Yes, as far as possible." "And you feel that if it is not found possible the consequences will be serious?" "I’m afraid I do. But perhaps I am becoming too political for a soldier. Let us talk about something else." "Well, the trouble is that most topics are political indirectly — even what we eat and drink. Do Maori officers and men eat and drink together?" "Off duty, yes. In the front line, yes. In base camps, no." "But let us get away from socialpolitical issues altogether. Were you able to keep in touch with broadcasting when you were away, or were you wholly detached from it?" "I kept in close touch all the time. To begin with we were in England, and I suppose it was natural for the BBC to turn to me when a Maori broadcast was under consideration. I spoke several times over the BBC, and compéred a number of programmes-some Home Service, some Canadian or Pacific." The Radio Meant Much to Them "What about our own broadcasting unit in the Middle East?" "I was there whenever it was there. I mean that when there were Maori broadcasts I was the compére." "Was that often?" "Not as often as we would have liked, but most acceptable when it happened." "It means a good deal to Maori soldiers to be able to speak to their people?" "More, I think, than it does to pakeha troops. You see it is a tribal business again. We select speakers from each company, and that means from each tribe, and when they speak to their people the whole Maori race is represented." _ "Was the selection made by the men themselves, or did their officers nominate speakers?" "No, the men themselves. As far as they could the officers kept out of it. But the men of course knew whom they were selecting to speak for them."

"You mean the tribal position of the speaker?" "Yes. Selection was by tribes and sub-tribes, and there was never any difficulty about it." "Broadcasting is a big~ thing to Maoris?" "A very big thing in war and in peace. As far back as our. traditions go we have been moved by the human voice. We don’t write our thoughts, we utter them. Broadcasting makes our past live again." % * % | END with a story that is one of the reasons why General Kippenberger called the Maoris the best fighting battalion in the world. He told me part of it, Col. Bennett told me a little more, but I still don’t know enough to tell it properly. This, ,however, is the bald outline. : In the fighting that turned the Mareth Line, the Maoris somehow isolated a crack German battalion (Panzer Grenadiers) and were left to deal with it without assistance. The battle went on all day, with heavy losses on both sides, and then the Germans showed a white flag. Thinking that they perhaps wanted an armistice to bury their dead, Colonel Bennett stopping the fighting and received German envoys. They did not .want an armistice, but explained that they had a large number of wounded to whom they could not attend since they were out of medical supplies, Would the New Zealanders help them, Convinced that it was a genuine appeal and not a trick, Colonel Bennett at once sent his own ambulances to bring in the German wounded, and the battle was resumed with Germans and Maoris receiving attention at the same casualty stations. Later the knowledge that they were fighting a chivalrous opponent induced a small group of Germans to surrender, and the Maoris, guessing rightly that this meant a collapse of morale, took a risk and charged, and. all the Germans still alive (including the Colonel) were captured. It was, Colonel Bennett told me, an African variation on Gate Pa: succouring the enemy to enable him to fight on.

EI

Hamma