Ko te 28 he wahanga o te Mātua Tuarua o Aotearoa, arā te rōpū whawhai o te Hokowhitu Taua Tuarua o Aotearoa i te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua (1939-45). Ko te tikanga, he 700 – 750 nei ngā tāngata i roto i tēnei ope taua. Ka mutu koia tēnei he ope hōia haere raro kei te mura o te ahi. Te katoa o rātou he tūao. Ko te tikanga whakawehea ai te ope taua nei kia rima ngā ngohi.
Tokomaha
ngā Māori i tū ki te whakautu i te karanga kia whawhai i te timatanga o te
Pakanga Tuarua i te marama o Mahuru
1939. I te marama o Whiringa-ā-Nuku, whai mai ana i te karanga o Tā Āpirana Ngata
(me ētahi atu Mema Pāremata Maori) kia whakatūngia he ope taua Māori, i whakaae
mai te Kāwanatanga kia whakatūngia te Ope Taua Maori 28.
E hika e!! Tūturu he whakairiiritanga i roto i te
ahi ki runga i ngā whenua aweko o te Metatareina. Kotahi anake te hua o te wawaonga
o Kariki me Kariti e ngā Hoa Whenua ki
ngā tuki o Tiamani, tērā ko te mate. Ka mutu he toimaha te parekura, engari i
roto i ngā āpiti māhinahina i Maleme me te Huarahi 42nd, e hika mā
ka whānau mai te kōrero pūrakau o te Ope Taua Māori.
Whai mai ana i te
whakakohuki o Kariki me Kiriti, i āta tātai anō rātou i te Matua me te
whakaharatau, whakarite ope tānga hoki, i a rātou i Ihipa. He āhua
roa te wā e mahi pēnei ana rātou. I te
mutunga o te tau 1941 tae noa ki te timatanga o 1943 ka whakaanga atu te Ope
Taua Māori ki te Afrika Korps o Erwin Rommel, rātou ko ngā taua o Itari, i roto
i te koraha nui o Awherika ki te
Raki.
Ko te Ope Taua Māori me ērā atu o ngā
hōia o Aotearoa i whakapaua ngā tau e rua whakamutunga ki Itari. Kua whakarerea
te koraha maroke, mōwai hoki, he pai mō ngā kakari waka taua me te pakanga
nekeneke. Ka huri kē ngā hōia Māori ki te wharu me te hukarere, ngā maunga me
ngā awa, he hoariri kua whakatūroangia hōhonutia - me ngā tāngata whenua kaha
manaaki o Itari.
Ko te kī a te hōia mō te pakanga ko te hia kē nei marama o te hoha, me te mataku poto nei. Ko te nuinga o te wā o te hōia kei muri i ngā raina, e whakaharatau ana , e 'tukituki ana i te tapawhā' me te mahi i ngā mahi o te āhua noho ā-puni nei. Ko te hākinakina me te whakangahau hei whakawai i ngā hōia, ā, ko ngā wā hararei hei whakarite mea angitu mō te mahi ā Rēhia me te tirotiro haere.
Mō te roanga o te pakanga i tautoko te iwi o te haukāinga i te mahi pakanga. Ka uru ki te Rōpū Tautiaki Haukāinga, ka whakatipu kai, ka mahi ki roto i ngā ahumahi waiwai, ka kohi pūtea hei tautoko i te kohakoha pakanga. Tokomaha ngā Māori i hūnuku mai ki ngā taone mō te wā tuatahi ki te mahi ki roto i ngā wheketere. Ka timata te 'whakataonetanga', ā, ka kaha haere whai muri i te pakanga.
Ko te Pakanga Tuarua he mea hira mō ngā whanaungatanga i waenga i te Māori me te Pākehā. Ko ngā kohakoha me te rongonui o te Ope Taua Māori he take whakahī mō te hapori whānui o Aotearoa. E ai ki a Āpirana Ngata ko te urunga a te Māori ki te Pakanga Tuatahi koira te 'utu o te raraunga'. Whai muri i te Pakanga Tuarua, mārama ana te kite atu - kua utu nui te Māori.
