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After three years of fighting German forces in North Africa with the 28 Maori Battalion, Tamati Paraone's campaign ended when he was hit by shards of shrapnel in the outskirts of Tobruk in 1943.
"The Germans had their big guns just firing away and one of the shells landed near us. We heard it coming and all lay down, but I got pieces in my eye and in my back."
Although he was keen to stay and fight with his friends, the A Company sergeant was given some bad news.
"I was sent to a hospital in Egypt and was told a few months later that I had to go home or I would go blind because the sun was so harsh over there."
"I was so aroha [sorry] for my mates. I didn't want to leave my friends, but when the Army tells you to do something, you do it, no humbug. So I came home," said Mr Paraone.
Now 90, Mr Paraone is still sprightly and alert.
He breaks frequently into his native tongue when speaking, the way some older Maori do when things become emotional.
Mr Paraone, who was part of the first contingent of the 28 Maori Battalion provisioned to England in 1940, is one of just 68 remaining former servicemen. He is also one of its oldest-surviving members.
More than 3600 Maori men served during World War II in the battalion's ranks that fought campaigns in North Africa, Greece, Crete and Italy.
Their willingness to fight in the war and their disproportionate number of casualties - 649 were killed or died on active service and 1712 were wounded, many of them several times - was referred to as the "price of citizenship" by Maori leader Sir Apirana Ngata.
Most of the surviving former servicemen are now in their 80s. Over the past year another 21 of its soldiers have died.
With this in mind, an organising committee is trying to raise $30,000 in 30 days to send some of the surviving members to the All Blacks-France test match at Eden Park on June 2.
The money raised will be used to buy tickets to the test match and provide travel and accommodation.
Mr Paraone, who was born in Otiria and raised by his grandmother, was working for the Northland Electric Power Board as a "ganger" when England declared war against Germany in 1939.
Part of the company known as "the Gumdiggers", he said tribal differences among Maori in the past were put aside, and the men united for "God, king and country".
"We didn't talk about our tribes, we went in there as the Maori Battalion - that was the most important thing and the thing that Sir Apirana Ngata said we had to be," said Mr Paraone.
The battalion, which was often used as a spearhead attacking unit, earned a fierce fighting reputation and the respect of German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel.
"The Germans knew we came to fight, and when our men did their haka there was no humbug about it - but that's war for you," said Mr Paraone. "Rommel reckoned if he had 10,000 Maori he would have conquered the world."
Its numbers are fading but Mr Paraone said he was proud of the legacy the battalion would leave behind.
"There's no doubt that we were very proud of ourselves and a lot of people said they wanted to fight alongside the Maori Battalion."
* Fundraising: A cheque can be made out to the 28 Maori Battalion Mataatua RSL and sent to 30 View Rd, Titahi Bay, Wellington 5022 (Postcode a must). Please provide postal details for return receipt.
Feared Fighters
Surviving members of the 28 Maori Battalion:
* A Company (Gumdiggers) from the North, 8
* B Company (Penny Divers) from Hauraki, Rotorua and Bay of Plenty, 18
* C Company (Cowboys) from the East Coast ,19
* D Company (Ngati Walk About) Tainui, Whanganui and South Island, 23
Source: The 28 Maori Battalion national executive database
Free Anzac Day entry to museum
The Auckland War Memorial Museum is holding a series of exhibitions and free activities to mark Anzac Day.
No donation will be asked for entry to the museum after the dawn service.
The permanent gallery, Scars of the Heart, tracks the history of New Zealand at war from the mid-19th century to the present day and the Holocaust Gallery tells the story of New Zealand's Jewish refugees.
The museum is also displaying Lee Miller's War - a series of photographs taken during World War II by portraitist and fashion photographer Lee Miller - and Towards the Precipice: Propaganda Posters collected by W.B. Sutch.
The museum was built in 1929 as a memorial to the 12,000 people from the Auckland province who died in World War I and World War II.
Online link: The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a Book of Remembrance on its website for people to post messages on to remember those who served and died in war.
