Vailima Meanata

Surname
Meanata
Forename(s)
Vailima
Also known as
Vailima Joseph|Joseph Valima|Joe
Date of death
12-Jan-71
Place of death
27 Prosford Street, Ponsonby, Auckland

World War 2

Serial No
26147
Rank
Private
Address on enlistment
C/o Spedding Limited, Anzac Avenue, Auckland, New Zealand
Next of kin
Mrs Salote Tauaika (mother), Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Notes
Family confirm he served with B Company.

Comments (1)

Vailima Meanata, New Zealand 28th Māori Battalion, in uniform in Egypt, World War II Photographer unknown Collection of Meanata family Sometime in the late 1860s, a teenage Māori boy named Pita Meanata (Maynard) jumped aboard a whaling ship with a mate named Albert Cook, at Russell in the Bay of Islands. The boat was headed for the islands and, when it reached Tonga, the two young men hopped off. They spent the rest of their days in Tonga, never returning to New Zealand. Pita became known as Pita Nu'usila (Peter New Zealand); he worked, took a Tongan wife, had a family and died there. Pita Nu'usila's son, Joseph Tauaika Meanata, was born in 1871. He, too, remained in Tonga, married and had a family and died during the 1918 influenza epidemic. As a young man, Joseph's son, Vailima, renewed ties with his New Zealand Māori family; he honoured his New Zealand connection by serving in the New Zealand Forces during World War II. Vailima was assigned to B Company, 28th Māori Battalion; he is pictured here in uniform in Egypt.