Tā (Sir) Robert “Bom” Gillies (fourth from right) at the Treaty Grounds’ Te Whare Rūnanga, flanked by grandson Te Whanoa Gillies, Bernard Henare, Hone Harawira and Harawira Pearless, holding the 28th Māori Battalion Battle Honours memorial flag. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Tā (Sir) Robert “Bom” Gillies (fourth from right) at the Treaty Grounds’ Te Whare Rūnanga, flanked by grandson Te Whanoa Gillies, Bernard Henare, Hone Harawira and Harawira Pearless, holding the 28th Māori Battalion Battle Honours memorial flag. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The only surviving member of the legendary 28th Māori Battalion used the final words of this year’s Anzac Day commemorations to appeal for an end to all war.
Tā (Sir) Robert “Bom” Gillies, 98, spoke at the conclusion of a dusk service at Waitangi Treaty Grounds on Tuesday after presenting a memorial battle flag to the nation.
“In future, I would like to see peace in the world,” he said.
“War never solves anything. We’ve had so many of them, and we’re still having more. So I say to the whole world, let us have peace please.”
It was the first time a dusk service had been held at Waitangi.
The event drew dignitaries and people connected to the 28th Māori Battalion from around the motu.
The centrepiece of the evening commemorations was Sir Robert’s presentation of the 28th Māori Battalion Battle Honours memorial flag, which will be permanently displayed in Te Rau Aroha Museum of the Price of Citizenship at the Treaty Grounds.
The flag records the 42 battle and campaign honours awarded to the 28th Māori Battalion between 1941 and 1945.
The honours were approved almost 70 years ago but until this year had never been displayed publicly on a battalion flag.
Also taking part on Tuesday evening were students of The Leadership Academy of A Company, a Whangārei-based partnership school aiming to preserve the values of the 28th Māori Battalion.
The students marched up Nias Track to the Treaty Grounds — the same route taken by the famous battalion in 1940 before the soldiers left for the battlefields of Europe and North Africa — and performed a rousing haka for Sir Robert.
Image 1 of 10: Tā (Sir) Robert “Bom” Gillies walks onto the Treaty Grounds escorted by Bernard Henare and Harawira Pearless carrying the 28 Māori Battalion Battle Honours memorial flag. Photo / Peter de Graaf
In a speech to the crowd gathered at Te Whare Rūnanga [the carved meeting house], Waitangi National Trust chairman Pita Tipene paid tribute to the battalion — and especially those who never came home.
They were symbolised by 569 crosses in a Field of Remembrance overlooking the Bay of Islands.
He also paid tribute to the women and children who stayed behind, and the suffering some endured when their men returned damaged from the war.
The close links between the 28th Māori Battalion and the Treaty Grounds were highlighted by the original proposal to name the volunteer unit the Treaty of Waitangi Battalion.
His voice wavering with emotion, Tipene recalled a trip he made with Sir Robert to the 75th-anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, and how the war veteran had filled the gap left by the death of his own father many years earlier — as well as that left by all Sir Robert’s fellow soldiers.
“To have you here tonight, Bom, is very, very special,” Tipene said.
A flag was also presented to Bernard Henare, son of Sir James Henare, the last commander of the 28th Māori Battalion.
