Capt Harding Leaf and his Trainees, 1939

With war declared, training had begun with territorial and regular soldiers forming ranks and training.  This photograph was taken at Trentham in 1939.  It reveals the early formations of the Maori Battalion already underway.

Front and centre is WW1 veteran and an acknowledged hero Captain Harding Leaf, who under some pressure re-enlisted regardless of his relative senior age, he was well respected in the Ngapuhi lands and greatly assisted using his experience in the early training of the 28th Battalion.

Captain Leaf was killed in action near Maleme airfield on the Island of Crete.