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.
Ki Itari
I tae atu te Ope Taua Māori ki Itari i Whiringa-ā-Nuku 1943. Kua whakatūrorongia a Keiha, kātahi ka tukuna ki te kāinga mō te whakatā. I riro anō te Ope Taua mā tētahi āpiha Pākehā - a Rūtene Kanara Monty Fairbrother. He katopō te huringa o ngā huarere, mai Ihipa ki Itari kē i te timatanga o tētahi hōtoke māku, mātao hoki. Ka hoki anō te Ope Taua Māori ki te whawhai i Orsogna i te 7 Hakihea 1943. I whiwhi ētahi huanga i roto i ngā āpiti hikareia, engari tae rawa ki te Kirihimete, e puritia tonutia ana taua taone e Tiamani. I whakatahingia a Aotearoa mai i te mura o te ahi i waenga i te marama o Kohitātea 1944, ā, tae rawa ki taua wā kua taua a Fairbrother e tētahi Pākehā anō, a Meiha Russell Young.
Cassino
O ngā kakari katoa i kuhu nei te Ope Taua Māori i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, kāore he pakanga i tua atu i te nonoke mō Cassino mō tōna hikareia me tōna utu hoki. Ko Monte Cassino he maunga paratū 500m nei tōna tāroaroa, kei tōna tihi he ohu whakapono mō ngā pirihi Benedict. Ko te maunga nei e whakaawe ana i te huarahi ki te Riu o Liri. Kei raro nei ko te awa Rapido e rere ana me te taone kaha waongia nei a Cassino. I mua i te taenga mai o Aotearoa, e hia ngā huaki o ngā Hoa Whenua kua makere iho.
I te pō o 17/18 Hui-tanguru i huaki te Ope Taua Māori i te teihana tereina o te taone. Engari kāore i taea e ngā waka taua tautoko te kuhu atu. Nā reira i mate rātou kia whakatahi atu. Taiparatia taumahatia ana rātou e te hoariri i taua wā tonu rā. Tūturu he parekura wehi tēnei mō Kamupene A, B me C hoki. Ko te 128 nei ngā tāngata o e rōpū 200 i whara, i mate, i mauheretia rānei. I huaki anō i Poutū-te-rangi, ā, i taua wā i kitea he whawhai awhero kore, whāiti hoki i waenga i ngā hanganga pākarukaru o te taone. Mutu ana tēnā i whakatahingia a Aotearoa i te timatanga o Paenga-whāwhā. I hinga rawa mai a Cassino e ngā hōia o Pōrana i waenga i te marama o Haratua 1944.
Florence ki Trieste
I whakatā anō, i whakamāui anō rātou. Kātahi ka hoki anō te Matua Aotearoa ki te mura o te ahi i Hōngongoi 1944. Ka hāpai anō te Ope Taua Māori i te kōkiri whakamua ki Florence. Koia tonu te ope tuatahi kia tae atu ki ngā tapa o te taone i 4 Here-turi-kōkā. Arā atu anō he whawhai e pātata nei ki a Rimini i Mahuru, me Faenza i Hakihea. Engari i pōturi haere te kauneke whakamua nā te taunga mai o te hōtoke. Mai i te Whiringa-ā-rangi 1944, i hautūngia anōhia te Ope Taua Māori e tētahi Māori - arā ko Rūtene Kānara Arapeta Awatere hei kaihautū.
Taka rawa mai ki te Paenga-whāwhā kātahi nei te Ope ka hoki ki te mura o te ahi. Ko te marama whakamutunga o te pakanga ka huri hei whaiwhai. Ko ngā Māori ka whakawhiti rātou i ngā awa Senio, Saterno, Sillaro, Idice me te Po hoki, ka mutu, kāore i kaha ātetengia rātou e te hoariri. I whakakauraro ngā hōia o Tiamani i te rangi tuarua o Haratua 1945. I te mutunga o te pakanga i Trieste ngā hōia o Aotearoa, tata ki te ripa tauārai o Slovenia o ēnei rangi. I reira i topatahi makiki ki waenga i a rātou me tētahi hoa whenua o Tiamani - ko ngā taituarā Yugoslav o Tito. I tūmanako rātou kia wheta i taua taone me te whakakotahi ki raro i te maru o Yugoslavia i muri i te pakanga.
Mō te Māori he nui te utu ki Itari. 230 nei ngā tāngata i mate, 887 i whara.
Te Huarahi Roa ki te Kāinga
Ahakoa i mutu te pakanga ki Uropi, nā te kōpaka o ngā kaipuke, ka neke atu i te whitu marama te roa kia heria katoatia rātou o te Ope Taua Māori ki te haukāinga. I te marama o Pipiri 1945, ko te 111 ngā tāngata mai i ngā Ope Tānga Tuaono, Tuawhitu hoki i auraki mai anō ki te kāinga. (Ko ngā mōrehu o ngā Taumata Tuatahi, Tuarua, Tuatoru hoki me ngā Ope Tānga Tuawhā, Tuarima hoki, i whakakapingia kētia, ā, i tukuna kētia ki te kāinga). Ko Rūtene-Kānara Awatere tētahi o rātou i hoki pēnei mai i te marama o Pipiri. Ko Meiha James Hēnare te kaihautū whakamutunga o te Ope Taua Māori.
I te Hōngongoi 1945 i whakataungia te tautohe ki Trieste, ā, i hūnuku te Matua o Aotearoa ki te roto o Trasimene ki te pūtahi o Itari. E ai ki ngā rongo, tēnā pea ka whakahaua te Ope Taua Māori ki te Moananui ā Kiwa ki reira whawhai ai. Engari i whakahauraro a Hapani i te 15 o Here-turi-kōkā. I te Mahuru i toro atu he rōpū whakahōnore ki Kariti hei haere ki ētahi karakia whakamahara hei whakahōnore i ngā Māori kei reira e takoto ana. I pērā hoki ki ngā urupā pakanga o Itari.
He 270 o ngā ope tānga o mua tata nei i tūao rātou ki roto i te ope taua whai muri i te pakanga ki Hapani. Ko te toenga o te Ope Taua Māori i auraki mai ki Aotearoa hei rōpū kotahi. I wehe mai rātou i Taranto i runga i te Dominion Monarch i te Rangi Mekemeke 1945, e ahu mai ana ki te haukāinga.