Give Maori soldier a VC, Waitangi Tribunal urges

Justice sought for Hanne Manahi

The Waitangi Tribunal has urged the Government to help get a Maori soldier the Victoria Cross for which he was recommended.

For the past 20 years the family of World War II soldier Sergeant Haane (Jack) Manahi have tried to have what they see as an injustice overturned.

Despite being nominated for the highest honour for his actions in North Africa in 1943, the Maori Battalion soldier received a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) instead.

The tribunal yesterday released a preliminary report into the Haane Manahi Victoria Cross Claim, asking the Crown and the Manahi Committee to work on a joint submission to the Queen.

Sergeant Manahi was recommended for the Victoria Cross for bravery and leadership at the Battle of Takrouna, Tunisia, in 1943.

The family had petitioned the Queen, whose father King George VI signed off the original awards.

But in 1999 then Prime Minister Jenny Shipley rejected a plea for the posthumous award, saying the Queen had decided it would not be right to review the award after so many years.

Frustrated, the family lodged a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal in 2000, as part of the Central North Island Claim, alleging a Treaty of Waitangi breach had occurred.

Tracey Hamiora, granddaughter of Haane Manahi, who died in a 1986 car accident aged 72, said the family wanted to honour her grandfather.

She said he was a humble, softly spoken man who was grateful for the DCM he was awarded.

"He rarely spoke about the war. It was only after details of his actions during WWII started to come to light that we realised what he had done."

Mr Manahi, of Te Arawa and Ngati Raukawa descent, helped capture a 330m outcrop occupied by more than 300 Italian and German troops.

The Dictionary of New Zealand records the feat: "In the face of grenades and small-arms fire, Manahi personally led his men against the attackers and after fierce hand-to-hand fighting the enemy were driven off."

Mr Manahi led a small party, under heavy mortar and machine-gun fire, around the north-eastern side of the outcrop, capturing enemy mortar and machine-gun posts and routing the enemy defences. The outcrop was won and 300 men captured.

Te Arawa Maori Trust Board chairman Anaru Rangiheuea said the Waitangi Tribunal was the only mechanism left for Maori to seek Government support for their actions.

Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell said it remained one of New Zealand's "unsolved mysteries" why the Victoria Cross was not granted.

"We will be urging the Government to take this matter up."

The medals

The Victoria Cross

* Highest decoration for valour while on active service. Twenty-eight have been awarded to New Zealanders, including six serving with foreign forces, since 1864.

The Distinguished Conduct Medal (Dcm)

* Oldest British award for gallantry, and second only to the Victoria Cross. Awarded to enlisted personnel, non-commissioned officers and warrant officers for distinguished conduct in battle.