Corporal 25804 · D Company, 28th (Māori) Battalion · Wounded and invalided home Early life John Topi Anglem, known as Toby, was born in 1903 and grew up at Te Waipopo, near Arowhenua and Temuka, the son of Walter Te Maiharanui and Mereana Anglem. He was a well-known singer at Arowhenua. In 1926 he sang…
Private 807383 · D Company, 28th (Māori) Battalion · Wounded, Italy 1944 Early life Harry Navau Apes grew up at Glenavy, near the mouth of the Waitaki River, where his grandmother, Mrs H. Wesley, was his next of kin. He was single and working as a grocery assistant. Harry was also a cricketer, and in…
Corporal 25813, DCM · D Company, 28th (Māori) Battalion · Wounded three times Early life Henry Kokoro Barrett (Hēnare Kokoro Tiratahi) was born at Temuka on 2 October 1911. His mother was Hīria Kokoro-Barrett, a Ngāi Tahu and Kāti Māmoe leader whose life is told in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, and his father…
Private 823231 · D Company, 28th (Māori) Battalion · Jayforce, Japan Early life Peter Gordon Noha Whare Bates was born in about 1922 and lived in Earn Street, Invercargill, before the war. His sister, Mrs S. Leitch of Hill End, was his next of kin, and he was single and working as a labourer. His…
Private 819445 · D Company, 28th (Māori) Battalion · 1945 Early life Robert Patrick Bennetts was born on 16 March 1924, the son of Martha Kiwi (née Wakefield) and Frederick Henry Bennetts. Through his mother he was Kāi Tahu, a grandson of Harawira Wekepiri of Little River and Martha Kiwi Otella Rickus of Tuahiwi. Before…
Private 807479 · D Company, 28th (Māori) Battalion · Wounded, Italy 1945 Early life Theodore Whuia Wharaki Robinson, known as Buck, came from Wainui, on Akaroa Harbour, the son of Theodore Percival Robinson. He was farming when he enlisted, and his mother, Mrs M. Robinson of Barrys Bay, was his next of kin. War Buck…