28 Māori Batttalion waharoa, Anzac Park, Nelson

On Saturday 24 September 2011 this waharoa (gateway) was unveiled at Anzac Park in Nelson. The waharoa commemorates members of the battalion with roots in Te Tau Ihu. It was carved by Mark Davis who is based at Whakatū marae. It is the first memorial of its kind in the region to acknowledge Māori soldiers' contribution to the New Zealand war effort. Nelson and Malborough college students read the names of each soldier, touching each name as they read from a plaque on the waharoa.

Veteran Matiu (Matthew) Love attended the ceremony, his roots are in Whakatū but he has long resided in Hawkes Bay. His name is commemorated on the waharoa along with his comrades who have now passed on:

Burials overseas

NAME	RANK	SERIAL NO	DATE OF DEATH	CEMETERY
BROUGH, John Michael	Private	807466	08/12/1943 22 years	Sangro River War Cemetery, Italy
CHESTERMAN, Earle Richard	Major	11805	05/07/1942 27 years	El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
ELKINGTON, Herbert Lance	Corporal	62804	08/05/1943 24 years	Enfidaville War Cemetery, Tunisia
ELKINGTON, John Arthur	Corporal	62803	02/11/1942 43 years	El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
ISAACS, Thomas Wiremu	Private	807318		Italy
LOVE, Eruera Te Whiti o Rongomai	Lieutenant Colonel	6133	12/07/1942	El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
MASON, Andrew	Sergeant	66024	13/12/1943 24 years	Sangro River War Cemetery, Italy
MORGAN, Benjamin Te Rauokewa	Private	62937	27/111941	El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
ROPATA, Ehai John	2nd Lieutenant	1917	26/10/1942 35 years	El Alamein War Cemetery, Egyp

Burials in New Zealand

NAME	RANK	SERIAL NO
AMAPIU, Eric Francis	Private	801502
BENNETT, George Ranginohōra	Second Lieutenant	6123
BENNETTS, Robert Patrick	Private	819445
DANIELS, Peter	Private	25831
HEMI, Jack Henry	Private	39001
HIPPOLITE, Hohapata	Private	25877
LOVE, Matthew	Lance Corporal	39526
MACDONALD, Rewi Maniapoto	Private	25923
MACDONALD, Manuel	Private	1249
MCGREGOR, Moetu	Private	25921
MITCHELL, Te Karawira	Private	819432
PENE, Harry Engel	Private	805178
POKAI, Kireona	Private	62805
SADD, Noel Arthur	Private	807388
SCIASCIA, Charles Te Amaru	Private	817732
SCIASCIA, Leslie Frank	Private	817733
SCIASCIA, Reginald	Private	817735
STAFFORD, William Tapata	Private	805771
STEPHENS, Warren Pahia	Private	819256
THOMAS, George William David	Corporal	633284
WALKER, Nutoni	Private	26079
WILSON, Joseph	Private	819530
WORDLEY, Joseph Tono	Corporal	805373

Note: the correct spelling is Te Harawira Mitchell

Reference:

Courtesy of Tim Hoffman.

Submitter:

Submitted by mbadmin on Thu, 29/09/2011 - 13:46

28 Māori Batttalion waharoa, Anzac Park, Nelson

Burials overseas

Burials in New Zealand

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