Sir Robert (Bom) Gillies, the last 28th Māori Battalion soldier from Rotorua, dies, age 99

Sir Robert (Bom) Gillies died today at the age of 99. Photo / Andrew Warner

Sir Robert (Bom) Gillies – the last man standing – has fallen at the age of 99.

The last surviving member of the 28th Māori Battalion died this afternoon, peacefully, at his home in Rotorua.

Tributes are flowing for a man who was described as a humble, hard-working hero, including tonight from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

“Sir Bom will be remembered for his service to New Zealand and defending the ideals we value most. With trademark humility, he took it as his duty to represent those he served with at commemorations both here and overseas.

“In doing so, he helped the stories of sacrifice from the legendary 28 (Māori) Battalion to continue to be told. We owe it to him, and all our servicemen and women, to never forget those stories.”

Sir Bom’s experience included fighting at the Battle of Monte Cassino, something Luxon said was “hard to imagine”.

“It was a torrid campaign, in the cold and the mud, and Sir Bom was just a teenager. It’s hard to imagine what he and his fellow soldiers endured but endure it they did, for us and our future.

Sir Robert (Bom) Gillies. Photo / Andrew Warner

Sir Bom was 17 when he lied about his age and enlisted in the army, finding his way into the celebrated 28th Māori Battalion.

In 1943, he left as a private in the 10th Reinforcements, 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, landing in North Africa at the end of the Western Desert campaign.

He then fought in the Italian campaign, sustaining injuries at Orsogna. After recovering, he continued serving with the Māori Battalion until the end of the war, including at the Battle of Monte Cassino.

He was knighted in 2021.

Sir Robert (Bom) Gillies, pictured honouring ancestors and comrades who fell at Cassino. Photo / Whakaata Maori

In his later years, Sir Bom represented the Māori Battalion at many local, national and international commemorations.

In the past year alone, he had been to Italy twice – in September last year to retrace his steps in World War II and in May for the 80th commemoration of the Battle of Monte Cassino.

He also attended the ceremonies in Italy marking the 70th and 75th anniversaries of the Battle of Monte Cassino in 2014 and 2019 and led the celebration on the 75th anniversary of the return of B Company to Rotorua in 2021.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said the nation would mourn the loss – the last of 3600 Māori Battalion soldiers.

“We saw him as a hero, but for Bom it was always about others. The only reason he’d accept honours such as the knighthood was in recognition of all his mates who went to war too, some of which still lie on foreign soil.”

Sir Robert (Bom) Gillies, flanked by Chief of Army Major General John Boswell and Colonel Trevor Walker, at a ceremony at Waitangi in 2023. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Tapsell said Sir Bom would be sadly missed by his family and community who will continue to remember him for his admirable humbleness and honesty.

Nephew Hemi Rolleston, who organised both delegations to Italy with Sir Bom during the past year, said it was a sad but special time to share those trips with him.

“It was heart-wrenching and sad but it was also a privilege to walk alongside him to hear his stories and hear the obvious sadness. But there were also happy times ... To be there with the last man standing was very special.”

Rolleston said Sir Bom was still of a sharp mind and body on the trips, speaking Italian to the locals and singing Italian waiata he remembered from war days.

“He was a real day hero and gave up so much and sacrificed so much. His mates were lying there and they weren’t able to come home and in his words, he said ‘for what?’ When you sacrifice lives, you hope it is for the benefit of something and right to the end he didn’t feel that happened. So now with his passing, to be there for his last hīkoi is something I’ll hold very special.”

Despite his honours, Sir Bom was known as a humble man.

“He was humble and hard-working. He did a lot of work around the marae and pretty much did all the maintenance. He was old school.”

Rolleston said Sir Bom’s death was a huge loss nationwide.

“It’s a huge loss for his iwi and Māori across the whole divide. He was the last of his ilk by a long way.”

The national president of the Returned and Services Association, Sir Wayne Shelford, expressed his sadness at Sir Bom’s passing and extended his condolences to his whānau, loved ones, and all those who knew him.

He described Sir Bom as holding a special place in the hearts of all New Zealanders.

Shelford emphasised that with Sir Bom’s passing, New Zealand lost another link to its past.

“It is a stark reminder of the importance of remembering and honouring those who have given so much in service of their country,” he said.

“But today – we remember and honour Bom. A true gentlemen, a soldier, one of the bravest of us all.

“Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou – we will remember them.”

About Sir Robert

He was born and raised in Waimārama (Ngāti Kurukuru) but later moved to Rotorua where his mother, who was descended from Ngāti Whakaue, was from.

He would wear his yellow and black Waikite Rugby Club colours with pride and was instrumental in establishing the current clubrooms.

In 2021 when he found out he’d been given a knighthood, the then 96-year-old promptly got his grandson around to write a reply email to say “no thanks”.

It’s the second time he was considered for a New Zealand Honour after a previous nomination didn’t go ahead when it was learned he would refuse it.

He told the Rotorua Daily Post at the time he turned down the offers because he thought there were plenty of others who had since died who deserved it more.

His condition in accepting it was that it be in honour of every battalion member and their families.

He also didn’t care for the fanfare that surrounded the knighthood, insisting on only one media interview with a handful of selected journalists.

When asked how he felt at the time, he replied: “It’s very frightening for me because I’m not used to all this public stuff.

“I feel I have to front up for the 3600 men who served in that wonderful fighting unit.

“I feel that the true people who need this honour have all passed on.”

The shrapnel that lingered in his arms was a lasting reminder of his two years at war.

“I had never even been as far as Mamaku before I joined the army. But sometimes I wonder now what it was all for. We stopped the tyranny of Hitler at the time, I suppose. But I wonder if the world is really a better place for the cost of all our boys.”

His words to the nation in 2021 were: “In the first place, they better start looking after the ordinary people instead of the rich. It is harder now for people to get a house. In our days you got one for £2000. It’s all about money, it’s not about people. That’s the trouble, we follow America too much.”

Sir Bom would have turned 100 on Valentine’s Day next year.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.