The incredible story of New Zealand’s World War 2 Māori battalion

It is one of the most iconic and unique images of World War II: Maori foot soldiers bristling with warrior energy, mid-haka, in Egypt in 1941.

The soldiers, from the renowned 28th (Maori) Battalion, 2nd New Zealand Division, look neatly groomed but intimidating and fearsome, ready for any foe.

They lived up to the energy captured in the photo during six bloody years of war.

They were all volunteers, but they were known to be among the fiercest fighting forces of any army on either side.

After six years of warfare in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy, the Maori battalion was the most highly decorated and revered battalion in New Zealand.

During the campaign two members of the battalion were recommended for Victoria Crosses, the highest award in the British honors system. They were Lieutenant Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu (left) and Sergeant Haane Manahi (right)

Combatants on both sides of the fight had them in awe, even if their courage meant they suffered devastating casualties.

Germany’s legendary tank commander Erwin Rommel, who faced the New Zealanders in North Africa, said of them: “Give me a Maori battalion and I will conquer the world.”

Among the many attributes for which Rommel admired the Maori were their bayonet skills and their ruthlessness.

On Crete in 1941, Maori Battalion B Company, Ngā Ruku Kapa (the Penny Divers) was sent to help defend an airfield.

They forced a German platoon to surrender, but one of them threw a grenade at the Kiwis, wounding three.

The Maori responded with a bayonet swap, killing 24 Germans.

But the famous photo of the haka hid a tragic reality: despite all the toughness shown and tested in bloody theaters of war, its desertion rate was unusually high.

Allied commanders were so impressed by the Maori battalion’s efforts against Rommel’s forces that they were often used as a spearhead in later battles.

That meant they suffered terribly.

Of the 3,600 men who served in the battalion, 1,712 were wounded and 649 killed, three-quarters of them killed or wounded in action.

Among his many attributes, the German tank commander Erwin Rommel admired the Maori for their bayonet skills and ruthlessness.

They were all volunteers, but it is known that they were among the fiercest fighting forces of any army on either side.

After six years of warfare in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy, the Maori battalion was the most decorated and most revered New Zealand battalion.

More than 16,000 Maori fought in World War II, but it was the 3,600 Maori who became the stuff of legend.

“No infantry had a more distinguished record, or saw more combat or, unfortunately, suffered as many casualties as the Maori battalion,” said Bernard Freyberg, commander of the New Zealand forces during the war.

Of the four most prominent men in the famous photo, only the haka leader, Te Kooti Reihana, managed to make it home.

He became a farmer but he was not the same man as before the war and succumbed to alcoholism.

Many members of the battalion returned home and instead of being greeted as war heroes, they were shocked to find themselves treated as second-class citizens and victims of racism.

The other three men in front of the image died.

John Manual was killed in a trench when a shell exploded next to him, Mark White was shot and killed, while Rangi Henderson also perished on the battlefield.

More than 16,000 Maori fought in World War II, but it was the 3,600 Maori battalion that became the stuff of legend.

From the beginning they had something that other rival battalions did not: the strength that comes with being part of traditional tribes.

The first time the Maori battalion met in January 1940 at the Palmerston North Showground, they divided into companies formed around regional clans.

One company, or the ‘Gumdiggers’, consisted of men from the Ngā Kiri Kapia tribe from between Auckland and Northland.

The ‘Penny Divers’ were B Company, made up of the Ngā Ruku Kapa tribe, from between Rotorua, the Bay of Plenty and the Thames-Coromandel.

Company C, known as the ‘Cowboys’, belonged to the Ngā kaupoi tribe, spread all over the east coast from Gisborne to the East Cape.

From the beginning, the Maori battalion had something that other rival battalions did not: the strength that comes with being part of traditional tribes.

Initially, the concept of a Maori battalion was a political idea. The idea was that it would help raise the profile of the Maori and could lead to greater autonomy after the war.

The Ngāti Walkabout was the last and a ‘tribe’ representing the rest, from the Pacific Islanders to Wellington and the South Island.

Initially the concept of a Maori battalion was a political idea.

The idea was that it would help raise the profile of the Maori and could lead to greater autonomy after the war.

The fact that the Maori battalion soldiers were all volunteers, not conscripts, says a lot.

They relished the opportunity to fight, for their tribe, for the Maori and for New Zealand.

They came to each theater of war with an understanding of what was required to fight to the death that most non-Māori would only learn through bitter experience.

A volunteer later described how deep that understanding went: It was instilled in each boy that becoming a great warrior was the ultimate calling.

‘Your request [to fight] their elders and bosses could not deny them, their entire long history had been steeped in the religion of war,’ he said.

“The Maori boy’s training from infancy to manhood was aimed at the perfection of the warrior class, while dying in search of the war god Tumatauenga was a sacred duty and a manly death.”

The Maori battalion also proved to be a great warrior.

They were perhaps best known for their fighting during the North African campaign in 1943, earning them praise from Rommel.

During the second Battle of El Alamein during the fierce fighting in the Medenine, the battalion was responsible for almost completely destroying a battalion of German panzergrenadiers.

During the campaign two members of the battalion were recommended for Victoria Crosses, the highest award in the British honors system.

Lieutenant Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross after being killed in action during Operation Supercharge II; part of the Tunis campaign.

He personally knocked out several machine gun posts during an assault on Tebaga Gap and repelled German attacks after capturing a key position. Despite shoulder and leg wounds, Ngarimu refused to leave his position and was killed by the enemy.

Sergeant Haane Manahi was also recommended for the award, but it was later revised to a Distinguished Conduct Medal.

He led a section of men up a steep limestone cliff to capture several Italian positions during the fighting around Takrouna in 1943. The next day, he again captured Italian outposts.

Overall, the Maori battalion received more individual gallantry decorations than any other New Zealand battalion.

Other awards bestowed on the Maori Battalion include seven Distinguished Service Orders, one Member of the Order of the British Empire, 21 Military Crosses and three bars, 13 Distinguished Conduct Medals, 51 Military Medals, one British Empire Medal and one Star of US Silver