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Story of the 28th

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Home > Battalion letters

Battalion letters

Their Stories

15 related Battalion stories have been added at the bottom of the page.

Official and unofficial correspondence relating to the 28th Māori Battalion.

Greece and Crete

  • 26 June 1941 - Fred Baker reflects on Battle of Crete 
  • 24 June 1941 - Fred Baker reflects on the bayonet charge at 42nd Street, Crete
  • 12 August 1941 - Ngata writes to Dittmer concerning the good response at home to the actions of the Battalion
  • 14 April 1953 - Wiremu Herewini on what happened to Reinforcements Company in Crete
  • 29 August 1953 - Major Humphrey Dyer gives his account of the bayonet charge on 42nd  Street, Crete
  • no date - Paratene Kohere describes the counter-attack in Crete (Pt I)
  • no date - Paratene Kohere describes the counter-attack in Crete (Pt II)

 

North Africa

  • November 1941 - Rangi Royal updates Ngata on the events of November 1941
  • 9 November 1941 - Padre Harawira writes to Ngata with a personal update on the Battalion
  • 25 November 1942 - Wharetini Rangi writes to Ngata during the battle of El Alamein
  • 14 May 1943 - Ngata writes to Wharetini Rangi

Italian campaign

  • 1944 - Padre Huata writes to the Bishop of Aotearoa

Life in the Battalion

  • 11 December 1940 - Henare Ngata writes to Maraea Te Kawa
  • 20 July 1941 - Dittmer writes to Sir Apirana Ngata
  • 22 May 1942 - Panapa updates Ngata on training at Taiamai (Ohaeawai)
  • 30 May 1942 - Ben Rata writes home to his mother from Syria
  • 2 June 1942 - Tuakana Ngata updates his father Apirana about training at Ohaeawai
  • 8 June 1942 - Ace Wood writes to Dyer with an update on the Battalion
  • 5 August 1942 - Wharetini Rangi writes home to his wife
  • 2 February 1943 - Wharetini Rangi writes to Ngata from Tripoli with an update on the Battalion
  • 16 February 1943 - C Company officers write to Ngata about their concerns
  • 30 March 1943 - Ngata writes to the Prime Minister concerned about high Battalion casualty rates
  • 18 March 1944 - Rangi Logan writes to his parents
  • 27 March 1946 - AT Ngata writes to Judge Carr about a history of C Company
  • no date - Ben Rata writes home to his mother


Site editors note

Those items in bold text indicate content is in te reo Māori.




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Their Stories

  • George Dittmer writes to Sir Apirana Ngata

    The Battalion's Commanding Officer, George Dittmer, writes to Sir Āpirana Ngata, probably from Libya, on 20 July 1941
    Read more
  • Reverend Wharetini's letter to his wife

    Chaplain Captain Wharetini of Te-Aitanga-a-Hauiti writes to his wife from the desert, 5 August 1942
    Read more
  • Ben Rata writes home

    Ben writes to his Mother, from Syria, 30 May 1942
    Read more
  • Letter from Ben Rata to his parents

    Letter from Ben Rata of D Company to his parents.  Probably from the Middle East.
    Read more
  • Fred Baker reflects on the Battle for Crete

    While recuperating in hospital in Egypt in June 1941, Captain Baker praised the performance of Māori and other New Zealand soldiers during the German invasion of Crete.
    Read more

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Memories of the Battalion from those who were there.
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