28 (MAORI) BATTALION

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About the electronic version

28 (Maori) Battalion

Author: Cody, J. F.

Editor: Kippenberger, Sir Howard K.

Creation of machine-readable version: TechBooks, Inc.

Creation of digital images: TechBooks, Inc.

Conversion to TEI.2-conformant markup: TechBooks, Inc.

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre, 2003 Wellington, New Zealand

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About the print version

28 Maori Battalion

Author: Cody, J. F.

Editor: Kippenberger, H. K.

War History Branch, Department Of Internal Affairs, 1956 Wellington, New Zealand

Source copy consulted: VUW Library

Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45

Encoding

Prepared for the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre as part of theOfficial War History pilot project.

All unambiguous end-of-line hyphens have been removed, and thetrailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line. Every efforthas been made to preserve the Māori macron using unicode.

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Revisions to the electronic version

15 April 2005 Jason Darwin Added a new page containing hand-written obituary notes andnewspaper obituaries.

3 November 2004

Colin Doig Added name tags around various names of people, places, andorganisations.

31 August 2004 Jamie Norrish Added link markup for project in TEI header.

4 June 2004 Jamie Norrish Split title into title and series title.

19 August 2003 Virginia Gow Added References to Covers & 'Back' tags

July 2003 Elizabeth Styron Added TEI header

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28 (MAORI) BATTALION

Contents

[covers]28 (Maori) Battalion[frontispiece][title page]WINDSOR CASTLE — Foreword p. vPreface p. viiContents p. ixList of Illustrations p. xiList of Maps p. xv

CHAPTER 1 — Formation and Departure p. 1CHAPTER 2 — England p. 18CHAPTER 3 — The Middle East p. 33CHAPTER 4 — The Campaign in Greece p. 48CHAPTER 5 — Crete p. 78CHAPTER 6 — Sollum and Gazala p. 133CHAPTER 7 — Minqar Qaim p. 179CHAPTER 8 — Parry and Thrust p. 197CHAPTER 9 — Alamein to Tripoli p. 225CHAPTER 10 — Medenine and Point 209 p. 256CHAPTER 11 — Takrouna p. 282CHAPTER 12 — Across the Mediterranean p. 315CHAPTER 13 — Orsogna p. 322CHAPTER 14 — Cassino p. 349CHAPTER 15 — Advance on Florence p. 375CHAPTER 16 — The Rimini Campaign p. 406CHAPTER 17 — The Winter Campaign p. 430CHAPTER 18 — The Last Battle p. 451CHAPTER 19 — Aotea Quay p. 479

Roll of Honour p. 486

Summary of Casualties p. 501Honours and Awards p. 502Commanding Officers p. 504Index p. 505[colophon] p. 515[untitled] p. 517Already Published

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

Contents

[covers]

28 (Maori) Battalion

[frontispiece]

[title page]

WINDSOR CASTLE — Foreword p. v

Preface p. vii

Contents p. ix

List of Illustrations p. xi

List of Maps p. xv

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

[COVERS]

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

28 (Maori) Battalion

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

[FRONTISPIECE]

The authors of the volumes in this series of histories prepared under thesupervision of the War History Branch of the Department of InternalAffairs have been given full access to official documents. They and theEditor-in-Chief are responsible for the statements made and the viewsexpressed by them.

Moving into the line at Faenza

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

[TITLE PAGE]

Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45 28 (Maori) Battalion

J. F. CODY

WAR HISTORY BRANCH DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND1956

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

WINDSOR CASTLE — FOREWORD

WINDSOR CASTLE Foreword

Lieutenant-General Lord Freyberg, VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO

I AM proud to be asked by the Maoris to write a foreword to the history oftheir Battalion, partly because they had such a distinguished fightingrecord, but also because they were such excellent wartime comrades.Speaking of their military record overseas—I believe that when thishistory is published, it will be recognised more widely that no infantrybattalion had a more distinguished record, or saw more fighting, or, alas,had such heavy casualties as the Maori Battalion.

In this history you will read the whole story—how they wentoverseas from New Zealand in 1940, with the Second Echelon toEngland, to take part in ‘The Battle of Britain’. When the threat ofinvasion diminished they re-embarked for the Middle East, and arrived intime to take part in the disastrous campaigns in Greece and Crete. Laterthey fought in the 1941 Libyan Campaign and in the battles in 1942 indefence of Egypt. Later, when the tide changed, they took an active partin the victorious Western Desert Campaign, under Generals Alexanderand Montgomery. They finished the war in Italy on the 2nd May 1945.

In all these many campaigns this Battalion took a great part, often adecisive part, in the fighting, as in the counter-attacks at Maleme and42nd Street in the Cretan Campaign, or again in the Battle of TebagaGap, where gallant and young Ngarimu gained his posthumous VictoriaCross, or in the capture of Takrouna. But as glorious as these battleswere, and as gallant and brave as was the Maori part, it is not only oftheir bravery that we wish to write. We want to record what fine fightingcomrades they are.

To know and appreciate their great qualities you must understandtheir background and their tribal traditions. The Maoris are a fightingrace, and according to their traditions and in keeping with the laws ofNew Zealand, they did not come under the National Service Act, whichcalled up men when they reached the military age. The Maori was alwaysa volunteer. For them it was an honour to serve, an attitude stronglysupported by their tribal leaders.

In this book you will discover that the Maoris are fine men and finesoldiers. They were a great joy to be associated with. They were idealcomrades in arms—high-spirited, happy and brave. They had a furthergreat military virtue—their sense of humour never failed, they alwayssaw humour even in the most difficult situation.

The Maori Battalion was raised from all over New Zealand. Duringthis war the Maori Battalion made Maori history on two occasions. As aBattalion they were commanded in battle for the first time by Maoris.Some great leaders, such as Colonels Tui Love, Baker, Charlie Bennett,Keiha, Peter Awatere and Henare, were produced from officers of Maorior part-Maori blood. And Maori history was made when Ngarimu won theVictoria Cross.

I know that the Maoris would wish to record how much the MaoriBattalion owed to their Pakeha leaders. They will always remember withaffection such COs as Colonels Dittmer, Dyer, Fairbrother and RussellYoung.

This is a fine story of one of the great fighting infantry battalions ofWorld War II. I hope that it will be widely read by the Pakeha as well asthe Maori, and especially by the people here in Great Britain.

Deputy Constable and Lieutenant Governor,

Windsor Castle

16 December 1955

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

PREFACE

Preface

IT is not always easy to see things as others see them—the obstaclesmultiply when there is a difference in racial outlook. The writer, apakeha, approached the job of writing the Official History of 28 (Maori)Battalion with some trepidation. The story, at both divisional andbattalion level, is as accurate as careful research and detailed checkingby officers of the War History Branch can make it, and my thanks aredue to them. But there are occasions, the bayonet charge at 42nd Streetis one of them, where no amount of probing could reconcile the storiesof the participants, all of whom are quite definite that their version isthe correct one. I have taken the middle course, the course in which liesthe greatest amount of accord. I have been fortunate in inheriting aconsiderable amount of work done by Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett,Captain Wikiriwhi, and Sergeant-Major Nepia; particularly the last, whowas battalion historian in Italy and who has placed on record theparticulars of actions as soon as possible after the events took place. Inthis connection I am grateful to the officers, junior and senior, who tookso much trouble in answering my questionnaires and who made theirdiaries available to me. Lieutenant-Colonel Baker, chairman of the 28th(Maori) Battalion unit history committee, was most helpful both in hisofficial capacity and as an actor in much of the drama up to the time ofhis evacuation when wounded.

I have felt it a privilege to write the history of this magnificentbattalion.

J. F. CODY

WELLINGTON 29 February 1956

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

CONTENTS

Contents

PageFOREWORD vPREFACE vii

1 FORMATION AND DEPARTURE 12 ENGLAND 183 THE MIDDLE EAST 334 THE CAMPAIGN IN GREECE 485 CRETE 786 SOLLUM AND GAZALA 1337 MINQAR QAIM 1798 PARRY AND THRUST 1979 ALAMEIN TO TRIPOLI 22510 MEDENINE AND POINT 209 25611 TAKROUNA 28212 ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN 31513 ORSOGNA 32214 CASSINO 34915 ADVANCE ON FLORENCE 37516 THE RIMINI CAMPAIGN 40617 THE WINTER CAMPAIGN 43018 THE LAST BATTLE 45119 AOTEA QUAY 479

ROLL OF HONOUR 486SUMMARY OF CASUALTIES 501HONOURS AND AWARDS 502COMMANDING OFFICERS 504INDEX 505

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

List of Illustrations

FrontispieceMoving into the line at Faenza New Zealand

Army (M. D.Elias)

Followingpage 150

Group of officers at Palmerston North Farewell Parade The WeeklyNews

His Majesty King George VI inspects 28 Battalion atEwshott, 6 July 1940

London NewsAgency

The Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill takes the salute from DCompanyParade at Maadi New Zealand

ArmyDetraining at Katerini C. R. AmburyPart of Battalion Headquarters at Katerini J. Matehaere

collectionLooking north-east to Katerini from 28 Battalion positionin Olympus Pass

New ZealandArmy

Vineyard on the coastal area between Platanias andMaleme

G. H. Weircollection

Return from Crete to Alexandria Britishofficial

Training with a 2-inch mortar New ZealandArmy

Lieutenant A. Awatere, Intelligence Officer, Libya Britishofficial

Stuka attack on transport south-west of Gazala Britishofficial

Anti-tank guns captured at Gazala Britishofficial

Wiring defensive positions in Syria New ZealandArmy (H.

Paton)Arrival on the escarpment at Minqar Qaim New Zealand

Army (H.Paton)

RAP near El Mreir C. N. D'ArcyVarious shells collected in the El Mreir area C. N. D'ArcyPrisoners captured after the attack at Munassib C. N. D'Arcy

Followingpage 150

Portée blown up by a mine C. N. D'ArcyGroup before the Battle of Alamein New Zealand

Army (M. D.Elias)

A Sherman tank at Alamein C. N. D'ArcyThe breakthrough at Alamein C. N. D'ArcyChristmas Dinner, 1942, at Nofilia C. N. D'ArcyBren carriers outside the Benito Gate at Tripoli New Zealand

Army (H.Paton)

Entering Tripoli New ZealandArmy (H.

Paton)Second-Lieutenant Te M. N. Ngarimu, VCPoint 209 C. M.

Bennettcollection

Attending to the wounded at Takrouna C. N. D'ArcyTakrouna from the southThe ledge and pinnacle of Takrouna J. L. KinganHow the wounded were brought down from Takrouna C. N. D'Arcy

Followingpage 314

Returning through the Marble Arch C. N. D'ArcyMarching in Cairo on the United Nations' Day Parade,1943

New ZealandArmy (M. D.

Elias)Awaiting embarkation at Alexandria for Italy New Zealand

Army (M. D.Elias)

Arrival at Taranto C. N. D'Arcy28 Battalion moving across the Sangro C. N. D'ArcyMutton for dinner New Zealand

Army (G. F.Kaye)

The approach to Orsogna New ZealandArmy (G. F.

Kaye)Major J. C. Reedy, Captain R. Tutaki, Lieutenant-ColonelR. R. T. Young, Second-Lieutenant M. Raureti, Captain G.Marsden, February 1944

New ZealandArmy (G. F.

Kaye)Followingpage 314

The bombing of the Monastery at Cassino, 15 February1944

US Armyofficial

The attack on the Railway Station, Cassino, from outsidethe RAP

C. N. D'Arcy

The narrow road between the RAP and the Railway Station C. N. D'ArcyReady to advance into Cassino C. N. D'ArcyRoute 6, about a mile from Cassino C. N. D'ArcyFrom the RAP in the entrance to the crypt at Cassino C. N. D'ArcyPreparing for a hangi at Isernia C. N. D'ArcyThe hilltop village of Bocca, taken by elements of 28Battalion

New ZealandArmy (G. F.

Kaye)Battalion Headquarters before the entrance into Florence R. MaihaThe final objective on the way to Florence R. MaihaCovering fire, Fiumicino River British

officialBren carriers beyond Rimini New Zealand

Army (G. F.Kaye)

Ready to move in the Faenza sector New ZealandArmy (G. F.

Kaye)Moving into the line on the Senio New Zealand

Army (G. F.Kaye)

Fusing hand grenades, Faenza New ZealandArmy (G. F.

Kaye)Checking weapons New ZealandArmy (G. F.

Kaye)

The start line for the Senio assault New ZealandArmy (G. F.

Kaye)The Senio stopbank New Zealand

Army (G. F.Kaye)

Signaller and stretcher-bearer at the Senio New ZealandArmy (G. F.

Kaye)Route march, Trieste, July 1945 New Zealand

Army (J.Short)

The Battalion's Commanders

28 (MAORI) BATTALION

LIST OF MAPS

List of Maps

Facingpage

Greece 43Crete 83Egypt and Cyrenaica 143Alamein 209Central and Eastern Mediterranean 243Southern Italy 315Northern Italy 375

In text PageTribal areas and company boundaries 6Olympus Pass positions, 13–17 April 1941 52Fifth Brigade, Maleme, 20 May 1941 8242nd Street positions, 27 May 1941 1185 Brigade positions around Bardia, November 1941 148Menastir positions on the Via Balbia 157The Advance to Gazala, 11–16 December 1941 164Eastern Mediterranean 18121 Panzer Division encircles New Zealanders at Minqar Qaim,27 June 1942

190

5 and 6 Brigade positions, dawn 24 October 1942 230Left Hook at El Agheila 247Allied positions at Medenine 258Left Hook at Mareth 265Maori Battalion attack on Point 209 268Hikurangi and Point 209 272The Capture of Takrouna 288Sangro River- Orsogna area, November 1943-January 1944 3245 Brigade attack, 24 December 1943 342

Facingpage