New Zealand - Māori Battalion return
- 1945
Māori and the Second World War
- By the time the Second World War ended in 1945, 28 (Maori) Battalion had become one of the most celebrated and decorated units in the New Zealand forces. The pinnacle of its achievement was the Victoria Cross won by Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu in 1943. Ultimately, nearly 16,000 Māori enlisted for service during the Second World War.
- New Zealanders reacted with patriotic fervour to the outbreak of war in South Africa in 1899 and again when the First World War began in 1914. Imperial policy had officially excluded Māori from fighting in South Africa, but a number still enlisted. That policy was still in place in 1914, but a change of heart in London saw several thousand Māori eventually fight in the First World War.
(Reference: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/maori-in-second-world-war)
Image source: Māori Battalion return, 1945
Archives reference: AAPG 25263 W3939 Box 23/ A.7
Material from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
https://www.flickr.com/photos/archivesnz/47098845571/