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When Joseph Meanata asked for a meeting with the Tongan Queen Salote Tupou III in 1940, he had one thought on his mind.
He was seeking her royal approval for him and his two Tongan cousins to join the New Zealand war effort. The trio would even pay their own boat fares to get to New Zealand - and even then were still not guaranteed of their entry to the NZ Army.
He would have approached Queen Salote with his eyes cast downwards. That is a mark of respect Tongans have for royalty.
With his head bowed, Meanata would have asked her royal highness for her permission and also her blessing.
Once permission was granted, Meanata would have shuffled backwards towards the entrance, not raising his glance towards the Queen.
Tonga was still part of the British Empire and King George was as much revered in Tonga as Queen Salote.
A year earlier World War II started when Germany invaded Poland. England and France responded by declaring war on Germany on September 3, 1939.
Meanata, a keen boxer, was working as a steward at the Nuku'alofa Club in Tonga when he met a New Zealand Army recruitment officer. The officer had been travelling through Western Samoa and Niue on a recruitment drive, and was heading home. He was not actively seeking Tongans to join.
That chance encounter struck a chord in Meanata and he formulated his plan to join the New Zealand Army. He would ask his cousins Alexander (Aleki) Leger and Manoel Santos to join him on the adventure of a lifetime.
After speaking with his mum Salote Vave, Meanata was told he must also seek permission from the Tongan Palace to travel to New Zealand.
Then his paternal grandfather Pita Meinata Te Haara, a Māori who arrived in Tonga in the 1870s revealed his whakapapa and the whanau in Northland who would welcome his grandson home.
Te Haara had never encouraged or even wanted his grandson to pursue his Māori whakapapa, fearing he would leave Tonga and never return. Meanata was the only whanau Te Haara had after the deaths of Meanata's dad and brother during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic.
Joseph Meanata Junior salutes his father. Photo / Supplied
So, in June 1940, armed with the royal blessing, Meanata, Leger and Santos - three young wide-eyed Tongans - arrived in Auckland. Language was not the only barrier they faced upon arrival but Meanata understood enough English from working as a steward for the trio to get by.
The New Zealand Herald published a story on July 22, 1940, about the group's arrival proclaiming that Meanata – who also went by the name Vailima – and Santos, a half-Tongan half-Portuguese British subject, had arrived to enlist. There was no mention of Leger.
"Special permission for Vailima, who is the first Tongan to offer his services to join up in the New Zealand Army, was granted by Queen Salote.
"Vailima is 25, and is of fine physical, and although he cannot speak English, he can understand it."
An updated story in the Auckland Star in August 1940, headlined: "Tongans Join Up – Māori Battalion - Reach NZ at own cost."
Discharge certificate and photo of Joseph Meanata from Bravo Company of the Maori Battalion. Photo / Dean Purcell
"The keenness of three Tongans to join the New Zealand armed forces has been rewarded and it was announced today that a place has been found for them in the Māori Battalion undergoing training at the Papakura Army Camp.
"They have been ordered to report to camp tomorrow."
It reported that the men had paid their own fares and applied to join the special force immediately.
"Military headquarters announced today that a place has been found for the men with the Māori Battalion. It was emphasised, however, that action taken by the military authorities in New Zealand in admitting the men to the forces should not be taken as a precedent."
Meanata's whakapapa from Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri and Nga Puhi would have assigned him to Alpha Company as the battalion was formed by tribal affiliations. But by the time Meanata arrived in Auckland, A Company – the Gum Diggers, Nga Keri Kapia - had already been sent overseas.
Meanata would eventually meet with his Northland whanau in Crete, North Africa, Italy and Egypt.
Joseph Meanata a Tongan/Maori who had to get permission from the Queen of Tonga to travel to New Zealand and fight in World War II with B Company of the Maori Battalion. Photo / Supplied
Instead, the Tongans were assigned to Bravo Company – known as the Penny Divers, Nga Ruka Kapa – who hailed from the Te Arawa in the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel region.
New Zealand-based Tongan-born men, Victor Emmanuel and Bill Sevisi (Wilfred Jeffs) also joined the 18th Infantry 2NZEF.
After completing training from August to November 1940, at the Trentham Army Camp, B Company boarded the troop ship Batory for Egypt.
Private 26147 Vailima ( Meanata), Private 26514 Alexander (Alex) Leger and Private 26146 Manoel Santos were on their way to war.
The Second Expeditionary Force lists the three Tongan cousins as the only soldiers who cited Tonga as their addresses for next of kin.
The trio arrived in North Africa with the 4th Reinforcement in December 1940. The dry heat was hotter than anything they had experienced in New Zealand, or Tonga.
Based at Maadi Camp near Cairo, they dug trenches, trained and marched, waiting for their call up.
Over the next four years, Meanata saw conflict in some of the bloodiest battles in North Africa – including the second battle of Monte Cassino, where it is noted that failures from Greece and Crete were avenged.
Meanata's children tracked their dad's travels through Egypt, the Greece and Crete campaigns, North Africa, Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Italy.
Meanata was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the North Africa Star (8th Army Clasp), the Italian Star, the Defence Medal, the 1939-1945 War Medal and the New Zealand War Service Medal.
The Māori battalion suffered huge casualties: 649 were killed and 1712 wounded while 267 were taken prisoner or missing - almost 50 per cent more than the New Zealand average.
The unit also received 99 honours and awards, the highest number among New Zealand infantry battalions.
Joseph Meanata jnr – who followed his dad into the New Zealand Army between 1975-1985 – said his father never spoke about the war.
"Dad was not a big talker and the only time he ever spoke about the war was with his soldier friends," Meanata Junior said.
"He never said anything to me, I only heard the stories about dad in the war after he passed.
"They said my dad had a lot of mana and I was happy to hear that from one of Dad's comrades from the Māori Battalion.
"Dad was a real humble man."
Meanata also knew how to look after himself, winning the 1943 NZEF (New Zealand Expeditionary Forces) Heavyweight Championship title. His name is inscribed on a silver cup.
Meanata said men of his dad's generation were tough and uncompromising.
Meanata snr was also wounded in mid-1944. But his injuries came via an axe attack by a Turkish local.
Meanata returned to Tonga on furlough and arrived back in Auckland in November, 1944, where he stayed until he was discharged from the New Zealand Army on March 15, 1945 – not long before Germany was toppled.
For his service, Meanata was flown back to Tonga for free but, as with many Māori and Pasifika colleagues, felt he received nothing but a handshake from the Government.
Meanata later returned to New Zealand, married a Tongan woman and raised a family.
Footnote: An earlier version of this article wrongly stated that "white NZ soldiers" were gifted land for serving in World War II. The land allocation programme was available to World War I veterans - mainly Pākeha soldiers as Māori veterans were assumed to have tribal land already available to them. The error is regretted.
