Māori Battalion research discovers veteran

Wiki Kahu, left, Ngaroma Driver, John Kani, Pat Taiwhare, Denise Tatere and Pat Edwards busy dishing up fried bread and barbecued sausages. Photo / Christine McKay

A humble sausage sizzle in Dannevirke's Copenhagen Square quickly turned into a historic fact-finding mission for Ngaroma Driver.

Driver had been asked to be part of a research team to find families and memorabilia of Māori Battalion D Company veterans and on Thursday she learned of another Māori Battalion veteran still alive.

Bom Gillies, 96, who lives in Rotorua, was 17 when he went to war and is the grand uncle of Dannevirke's John Kani.

Brothers John, left, and Frank Edwards busy on the barbecue in Copenhagen Square last Thursday, helping to raise money to support publication of the history of the 28th Maori Battalion D Company.

"He's one of the last surviving members of B Company and we're hoping to have him visit Dannevirke at some stage," Driver said.

Dick Smith, of Featherston, who is involved in the collation of information for the history of D Company, told the Dannevirke News there were no surviving members of D Company and only four or five other Māori Battalion veterans alive in New Zealand.

Helping to raise money for the publication of the history of D Company, brothers John and Frank Edwards were busy on the barbecue.

"Our uncle Wi Edwards was killed in action in Italy, but his brother Steve came home," John said. "Our dad was in the home guard, because apparently he had too many children dependent on him to be sent to war."

Frank said the research being undertaken should give the younger generation an insight into their experiences.

Researchers want to find out what the soldiers were doing before they left for the battlefields, their age when they left and what they did when they came back home.

"So many of them left here very young, just 15 or 16," Driver said.

Immediate past president of Nga Uri O Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru (descendants of the 28th Māori Battalion), Smith said he was excited the history of D company will be remembered in a book – something that had been accomplished before for C company.

The 28th Māori Battalion was made up of four rifle companies – A, B, C and D, the largest of which covers three quarters of the country.

Smith said one of the biggest challenges in compiling the book was the missing input of D company veterans from the Pacific Islands in the two-year project, which is now at the 12-month stage.