Padre Hūata leads singing at Alexandria

Padre Wī Hūata of Wairoa leads members of the Māori Battalion in song while they wait to embark for Italy from Alexandria, Egypt, in October 1943. Hūata, who arrived in the Middle East with the 10th Reinforcements in August that year, was the Battalion's fourth and youngest padre. He remained with the unit for the remainder of the war.

The move from Egypt to Italy was made in three groups, with each group containing one platoon from each company - a precaution against a whole company being lost if a troop ship was sunk by enemy action. On 17 October the three groups embarked on the transports Llangibby Castle, Nieuw Holland and Letitia. The Battalion arrived in Taranto on the 22nd.