Māori Battalion
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The 28th Māori Battalion was part of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) during World War II.
The Māori Battalion allowed Māori who were away from their iwi (tribe) to gain the spiritual and emotion support that was not offered by pakeha (european) battalions.
The Māori Battalion is recognised best for their skillful bayonet charges in Crete.
The 28th Maori Battalion was formed following pressure on the Labour government by the Maori MPs and Maori organisations throughout the country wanting a full Maori unit to be raised for service overseas. Its Companies were organised on a tribal basis.
The Maori Battalion followed in the footsteps of the Pioneer Battalion of WWI which had been very successful, and was wanted by Maori to raise their profile, and to serve alongside their Pakeha compatriots as citizens of the British Empire. It also gave a generation of people with a great military ancestry a chance to test their own warrior skills.
The men were initially sent to Britain, where the German threat was at its height, but when this did not eventuate they sailed from England, right around South Africa, to Egypt, and then to Greece, going into action in Greece for the first time on April 15th 1941.
They were evacuated, and were then involved in the brief and bitter defence of Crete. They had brief spells in Libya and Syria, before joining the 8th Army's long desert campaign that cumulated in the battle of El Alamein.
They pursued Rommel's Africa Korps until it was driven out of North Africa. They then went to Italy, where at Cassino the Maori Battalion took part in some of its fiercest fighting of the war, with 300 of its men being killed there.
The 28th Battalion were pulled out of the frontline on December 21st 1944.
A 270-strong contingent was sent to Japan as part of the occupation force, and the rest of the Maori Battalion returned to Wellington on January 23rd 1946.
Such was the respect for the Maori Battalion that they were frequently used as a spearhead unit. General Freyburg, the General Officer Commanding of the 2nd NZEF, commented "No infantry had a more distinguished record, or saw more fighting, or, alas, had such heavy casualties, as the Maori Battalion."
3500 joined the 28th Maori Battalion. 655 died. 1,949 were wounded or taken prisoner. Altogether 17,000 Maori took part in WW2.
See also
Military history of New Zealand during World War II