Surviving Māori Battalion soldier's plea: Get the medals your men so richly deserve!

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

The last surviving member of the 28th Māori Battalion, Sir Robert Gillies, is urging whānau of his army brothers to please apply for the World War II medals his mates so richly deserve.

More than 500 soldiers from the 28th Māori Battalion who fought in World War II neither wanted nor even bothered to apply for their medals.

But Sir Robert "Bom" Gillies, the last remaining member of the crack infantrymen unit that fought in Crete, Egypt, North Africa and Italy, says whānau must step up now and honour their brothers, fathers, grandfathers and uncles.

"It's about time these medals were presented."

At a ceremony at Rongomaraeroa o Ngā Hau e Wha Marae in Waiouru this month, Chief of Army Major General John Boswell said the New Zealand Defence Force was now in a position to present these medals, which recognise the service and sacrifice of soldiers and officers of the 28th Māori Battalion.

He said the government policy post-war was that ex-service personnel had to apply for their medals, which would then be sent through the post to avoid the problems experienced after World War I, when 10 per cent of medals posted to ex-service personnel or their families were returned because of out-of-date address information.

Many servicemen did not claim their medals.

David Stone, from Te Mata Law, said only 15 per cent of Charlie Company of the 28th – around 137 of the 900 men who served in C Company - applied for their medals.

Archives have identified approximately 500 sets of medals that were never claimed by 28th Māori Battalion soldiers.