Goff asks Queen to award posthumous VC

Haane Manahi

Defence Minister Phil Goff has asked Buckingham Palace to award a posthumous Victoria Cross to New Zealand soldier Haane Manahi.

Mr Goff, who is in Britain following trade talks in France, said he and representatives of Mr Manahi's Te Arawa tribe, had presented his case to the Queen's private secretary.

Mr Goff said Sergeant Manahi's bravery was shown "time and time again" when he led Maori soldiers up a mountainside in an attack on German positions in North Africa on 1943.

Sgt Manahi's effort was recognised by "the entire chain of command" including four generals who signed his citation for the VC and yet it was not granted.

He died in a car accident in 1986.

"The original citation and supporting sworn statements are compelling evidence of Lance-Sergeant Manahi's conspicuous bravery," Mr Goff said.

"We are exploring with the Queen's advisors whether his case can be reconsidered, mindful of the fact that the consistent position of the monarch since the late 1940s has been not to revisit such decisions."

Mr Goff said Sgt Manahi was one of the many soldiers whose gallantry went unrecognised during the conflicts in which New Zealanders served.

- NZPA