Farewell to Maori Battalion vet Arthur Midwood

World War II veteran and 28th Maori Batallion soldier Arthur Midwood being brought on to Tunohopu Marae yesterday by family. PHOTO STEPHEN PARKER

A 28th Maori Battalion soldier has been described as a loving family man who humbly served his country.

The tangi of Arthur Whiri Midwood is under way at Tunohopu Marae, Ohinemutu. The 96-year-old died from an illness in Taupo Hospital on Sunday surrounded by family.

Mr Midwood joined the New Zealand Armed Forces as a 22-year-old. He was part of the 28th Maori Battalion of B Company and trained in England before being deployed to the Maadi Camp in Egypt. In March 1941 he travelled to Greece and fought in the Battle of Crete.

SERVICE: Arthur Midwood, pictured in 2007, is remembered as a man who humbly served his country. PHOTO/FILE

He was the last of the "39ers" - the name given to soldiers who joined the Maori Battalion in its infancy in 1939. While he officially joined on January 26, 1940, Mr Midwood reported for his physical examination in November the previous year. He was wounded three times while fighting on the battlefields of Greece, Crete and Africa.

Mr Midwood served with Te Arawa war hero Lance Sergeant Haane Manahi and was the Maori Battalion's sole survivor of the Takrouna Ridge, North Africa, battle. After the battle he helped ferry other soldiers away.

His only son, Eric Midwood, said their family were mourning the loss of a much loved father, grandfather and great-grandfather. "It is a huge loss not only to myself but our whanau as a whole," Mr Midwood said. "We are very, very, very proud of him and the legacy he leaves ... he had such a loving wairua. I can't say enough about my father, he was a humble man and came from humble beginnings but he kept his [service] personal. He lost a lot of mates and he never talked about it, he was very private. Until he started losing [veteran] friends and that sort of put him as a spokesperson [for the Battalion] and as part of that he embraced it and we were able to share in that."

His younger sister Mary Staite remembered him as a loving brother who from a young age helped look after their family when their mother became a widow. "He was a good brother, he came back from overseas and used to take me to the pictures," Mrs Staite said. "I remember every time we got a cablegram, which happened three times because Arthur was wounded three times. My mother would get down on her knees and pray and pray for nearly an hour before she opened each cablegram."

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Mr Midwood was a vice president for the 28th Maori Battalion Association National Executive Committee and the patron for the Te Arawa Returned Services League of the Rotorua RSA. Former league secretary Henry Macown said there were now only two surviving Te Arawa Maori Battalion veterans left.

"Arthur, being a member of the league, we looked after his needs, took him to tangi, transported him around the country for reunions and supported him any way that we could," Mr Macown said.

"Arthur leaves behind a legacy of service, a legacy of duty. He was not bothered with medals or advancement - he humbly served his country," Mr Macown said. Mr Midwood's funeral will be held at Tunohopu Marae at 11am tomorrow.