28th MĀORI BATTALION MARCH TO VICTORY

Lt-Col Sir Charles Bennett D.S.O., Commander Maori Battalion, 1942 - 1943 introduces this ANZAC day special that remembers the efforts and history of the battalion.

“MAORI BATTALION MARCH TO VICTORY was produced and directed by Tainui Stephens in 1990 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the battalion. It is introduced by the late Sir Charles Bennett and features the memories of veterans Ben Porter, Don Stewart, Bully Jackson, Hēmi Wiremu and Wi Huata. George Hēnare is the narrator.

As a group, the old soldiers travel to the places where they once fought as young men and pay their respects to their fallen colleagues and brothers in arms. In Crete, Ben Porter recalls that while he was aiming his rifle at some Germans, he was shot but the bullet went right into the barrel of his gun. He was knocked over but safe.
In the North African desert Bully Jackson remembers the shock and awe of war, and the loneliness he felt for the daughter who was born after he had left home. Don Stewart tells how it feels to kill; and at the Souda Bay cemetery in Crete, he weeps at the grave of his slain brother Horton.

Hemi Wiremu takes us to the small German town where he was once a prisoner of war and meets up with one of his former guards in what is now a police college. Padre Wi Huata delivers a eulogy to the Maori Battalion from Pt 209 in Tunisia where Moana Ngarimu fought, died, and earned the Victoria Cross. In Italy, the old soldiers share wine, food and song with the citizens who they once helped to liberate from Nazism and Fascism." www.scoop.co.nz; 16/06/2006