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.
He rerekē te 28 ki te Ope Taua Māori Manene o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao i whakarato i te Aro o te Uru. Ko te nuinga o te mahi mō Māori mā i te Pakanga Tuatahi he keri awarua, he mahi tautoko rānei. Kāore rātou i tino rongo i te mura o te ahi.
Engari anō te 28. Ko tā rātou mahi he tū ki te mura o te ahi hei ope hōia haere raro. He tūao rātou katoa, ā, he tāpiritanga ki ngā ope hōia haere raro e iwa o Aotearoa e whakakaohia kēhia ana mō te Matua Tuarua o Aotearoa.
I whakaritea te ope i runga anō i te whakapapa ā-iwi nei (tirohia te mapi). Engari i te timatanga nā ngā hōia Pākehā kē i whakakī ngā tūnga hautū, me te aha ka pouri rawa te Māori. Ko tōna nei kaiārahi tuatahi ko Meiha George Dittmer. Ko ētahi o ngā āpiha me ngā NCOs i timata te mahi whakaharatau i Trentham i te marama o Whiringa-ā-Rangi, ā, i whakarauika tuatahi mai te Ope Taua ki Papaioea i te 26 Kohitātea 1940.
Te Tere atu ki te Pakanga
I te rangi tuarua o Haratua 1940, whai muri i te toru marama e whakaharatau ana, ko te tinana matua o te Ope Taua Māori, he 681 nei ngā tāngata, i tere atu i Te Whanganui ā Tara, i runga i te kaipuke tino hāneanea rongonui ko te Aquitania, koia kei te heri i te Taumata Tuarua o te Matua Tuarua o Aotearoa. I tutaki ia ki ētahi atu kaipuke hōia ki ngā whanga o Ahitereiria, kātahi ka tere atu ki Ihipa. I reira kē te Taumata Tuatahi o Aotearoa, kua whakatūngia kētia te puni. Engari i te 15 o Haratua, e whā ngā rangi i muri i te wehenga atu o Fremantle, i kauparea kētia ngā kaipuke kia haere ki Awherika ki te Tonga kē. I pēnei ai nā te mea e ai ki ngā kōrero, tata tonu a Itari ka whakapuakina te pakanga ki ngā Hoa Whenua, ā, tēnā pea ka aukatia te Moana Whero.
Cape Town
I tōna taenga atu ki Cape Town i te 26 Haratua 1940 ka kimi tauranga te Aquitania ki tētahi puni ope taua moana e pātata ana ki taua wāhi. Tere tonu te tuku i ngā hōia Pākehā kia wehe atu i te kaipuke tirotiro haere ai. Engari anō ngā Māori, nā ngā kaupapa here whakatāuke ā iwi o Awherika ki te Tonga, i mate rātou kia noho ki runga i te kaipuke mō ngā rangi e wha . Nā wai rā ka tino hōhā a ngāi Māori. Kātahi ka heria rātou ki tētahi kai waenganui rā nā te Koromatua o Cape Town i whakarite. I tukuna ki a rātou heke iho i te kotahi haora kia tirotiro haere ki roto i te taone. I whakatūpatohia hoki rātou kia tika ngā whanonga. Heoi anō, ahakoa tēnā mahi a te Pākehā i kaha manaakihia rātou e ngā tāngata whenua o reira.
Te Wawao i a Ingarangi
I wehe atu te rōpū i a Awherika ki te Tonga i te 31 Haratua 1940. E ahu ana ināianei ki Ingarangi. Whai mai i te whakatahinga o Dunkirk me te hinganga o Wīwī, i te tū tahanga a Ingarangi ki mua i te aroaro o Tiamani me ōna whakaaro tūturu kia whakaeke ki runga i te one o Ingarangi. Whai muri i te taenga atu ki Gourock, Kotimana, i te 16 Pipiri, i horaina te Ope Taua Māori ki te tonga o Ingarangi. I reira ka whakapaua tōna wā e whakaharatau ana me te whakatika waonga i ngā rangi whakahirahira o te Kakari o Ingarangi. Ko te matāika i tūpono i tētahi pō o Mahuru 1940. Tērā ko tētahi karere i mate i tētahi aituā i runga i te huarahi i waenganui pō.