Saving the stories of the Maori Battalion before it's too late

Sir James Henare. Photo / File

Moerewa's Otiria Marae will host a show and tell on Saturday to lay the foundations for a book about the 28th Māori Battalion's A Company before the soldiers' stories are lost forever.

Rowena Tana said her mother Grace Davis, the eldest daughter of Lady Rose and Sir James Henare, the battalion's last commander, had constantly urged her children to "hurry up and write that book," before it was too late.

Her mother died in 2013, but preparations for the book were now under way, Ms Tana said.

Anyone with stories or memorabilia to share about the battalion's famous A Company will be welcome at the marae, Hora Ka Taki, starting with a powhiri at 10am.

Ms Tana said the day would include a series of presentations by descendants of battalion members, followed by workshop sessions for those who were keen to contribute stories or taonga.

A writer had not yet been chosen, and no publication date had been set.

The show and tell, organised by the Taumarere branch of the 28th Māori Battalion Te Taitokerau Association, was a first step to gauge what material was available for inclusion in the book. The association's other branches were expected to follow suit with their own sessions.

The Māori Battalion was organised along tribal lines, with the soldiers of A Company drawn from Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua and other northern iwi.

They were nicknamed the Gum Diggers.

"It's been a long time coming, so we're getting ourselves organised," Ms Tana added.

"Before she passed my mother was always saying, 'Hurry up and get it started.' In our own whānau I remember my grandfather's memorabilia, his hat, his boots, his maps. It's been dispersed around the family, but as time goes on it will be lost, along with their stories."

Saturday's speakers will include:

■ Bernard, Phoebe and Charlotte, the surviving children of Lieutenant Colonel Sir James Henare and Lady Rose.

■ The Harawira whānau, who will read from the diary of Te Kao-born Kahi Harawira, a soldier in World War I and the battalion's first padre in World War II.

■ The A Company Academy boys of Te Kāpehu Whetū, in Whangārei, who will give a presentation about Kohukohu-born Lieutenant Colonel Fred Baker.

■ Helene Leaf, about Captain Harding Leaf, from Whirinaki, who was killed in action in Crete and was awarded the Military Cross.

■ Donna Awatere-Huata, about Lt Colonel Pita Awatere, whose maternal grandfather was from Ngāti Hine.

The book is not connected with a Māori Battalion Museum currently under construction at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and due to open in February 2020.

Participants are requested to take a koha or a plate for lunch.