William Apihai – D Company, 28th (Māori) Battalion

Portrait of William Apihai — Artist’s impression based on a photograph of William in a lemon-squeezer hat.

Private 39043 · D Company, 28th (Māori) Battalion · Second Echelon, 1940

Early life

William Paewaka Titirahi Apihai was born at Te Teko on 16 June 1920. His father, Titirahi Apihai, was his next of kin, and William was single and working as a farm hand. His pepeha:

Ko Putauaki te maunga
Ko Mataatua te waka
Ko Rangitaiki te awa
Ko Ngāti Awa te iwi
Ko Ngāi Tamoki te hapū
Ko Hekerangi te papa whenua
Ko Ruaihona te marae
Ko Ruaihona te wharenui
Ko Mahanga i te Rangi te wharekai
Ko Paewaka Titirahi William Apihai te ingoa

War

William sailed with the Second Echelon in 1940 in B Company, the company drawn from Te Arawa and the Bay of Plenty, and later served in D Company. He was wounded in 1941. After the war William married Noti, and he died on 31 July 1979, aged 59.

Sources

Online Cenotaph C116082; W. Gardiner, Ake Ake Kia Kaha E! (2019); Geni.

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