One of the two surviving Northland members of the famous Maori Battalion, 96-year-old Solomon Whakahoro Te Whata has died.
He passed away peacefully at his Moerewa home on Sunday among his family and friends after several weeks of increasing frailty and deteriorating health.
Mr Te Whata's tangi is being held at the Mataitaua Marae at Utakura and his funeral service will be held there at 10am on Thursday followed by burial at the Meheke cemetery at Utakura.
The last Northland member of the Maori Battalion A Company "Gumdiggers", Charlie Petera, of Pukenui, said yesterday he couldn't make it to the tangi because he was a "cot case," but his son Wayne was attending in his place.
Mr Petera said he and Mr Te Whata had gone overseas in the same platoon, serving in North Africa and Italy between 1941-45.