Emotional pilgrimage for Maori Battalion descendants

Tauranga Boys College students followed the footsteps of their Maori Batallion ancestors to Europe. L-R Nate Cowley, 14, Anaru Palmer, Jordan Urwin, 17, Mikaere Leef, 16, and Tahuriwakanui Durie, 14.

Twenty-nine boys followed the footsteps of their Maori Battalion ancestors through Europe to learn their heritage and remember fallen family members.

The Tauranga Boys' College students spent two weeks in Italy and Greece. All 29 had relatives who fought in the batallion, as did all the parents and teachers who accompanied the group.

The first stop on the trip was a visit to the Phaleron War Cemetery in Athens. There, Mikaere Leef, 16, visited a memorial to his relative Harding Leef, who died in the Battle of Crete: "It was quite moving. I hadn't known much about him before doing the research before the trip. It makes me proud of my heritage, proud to be a New Zealander."

Next was a trip by ferry to Crete. There the group visited the memorials to the Battle of 42nd Street, where the Maori Battalion was involved in a bayonet charge.

That was a meaningful moment for Tahuriwakanui Durie, 14, whose great-granduncle Paratene Kohere was involved in the charge.

Another special moment for the boys was visiting the Suda Bay War Cemetery, where they found the grave of Tauranga Boys' College old boy Patu Andy Williams, who died in the Battle for Crete. He was related to some of the boys.

Visiting a Crete village, Mikaere went to buy some sunglasses costing 5 euro. The shopkeeper offered the glasses to him free because of the Maori Battalion's role in the liberation of Crete.

Travelling to Italy, the boys took in some sightseeing at La Spezia, walking through villages on the cliffs to a secluded beach. Mikaere said the beach was packed and the boys found a rock to do "manus" off, soon attracting a crowd. They also did a haka at the beach and got the attention of some "local ladies".

A large part of the tour was spent in Florence.

The group took part in a civic function at Tarvanelle and Jordan Urwin, 17, said that town had a memorial to the New Zealanders who died in the area. The Maori Battalion was involved in the liberation of the town.

Some of the boys were interviewed by a local television station for that night's news.

Visiting a memorial to local people massacred by the Nazis was made more poignant by a local woman who had lived through the massacre but lost her father, grandfather and brothers.

It was quite moving. I hadn't known much about him before doing the research before the trip. It makes me proud of my heritage, proud to be a New Zealander.

Mikaere Leef

Arriving in Calenzano, the boys discovered they were to be the main attraction of a town event.

Posters were hung all over town. Anaru Palmer, 15, learned Italian that morning so he could deliver a speech on behalf of the tour group to about 1000 people.

"It pretty much just happened on the bus from La Spezia. I was talking with our tour leader who was quite fluent in Italian. He helped me write a speech. That's how I learned to speak Italian."

Nate Cowley, 14, said the boys performed for the crowd, doing haka and waiata. He said the haka won the crowd over - and caught the eyes of some local women, young and old.

The next day, the boys were invited to a winery in Florence to meet some elderly women who were girls during the war. The women, together with other townspeople, had hidden in a cellar for about a week during heavy bombing.

When the bombing stopped, the villagers did not know if the Nazis were going to be waiting for them outside. One opened the door and saw a brown face, that of a soldier of the Maori Battalion, and knew they had been saved.

The boys were invited to unveil a commemorative plaque in a village named La Romola, where 12 New Zealanders were killed in a mined building.

Anaru visited the grave of his great-granduncle Dixon Tawhiao at the Florence War Cemetery.

"It felt very emotional just being there. There was a sense of calmness. It felt spiritually reverent just to be near his grave. I felt it was important for me to make that connection between my family and him."

Following their ancestors' footsteps led the group to Monte Cassino, were the Maori Battalion incurred a high number of casualties. At the cemetery there were the graves of three soldiers, all killed on the same day and buried side by side. Those men were the relatives of five boys on the trip and it was a big deal for them to see their relatives had lived together, fought together and died together. That was the last stop on the trip commemorating the Maori Battalion, and from there the group visited the usual tourist sights in Rome and Vatican City.