Call for recognition of 28th Māori Battalion rugby team

The son of a late soldier who played for the 28th Māori Battalion Rugby team is calling for more recognition of their exploits.

Herbert Manupiri's father, George Te Ngahuru Pitman (Manupiri), played for the Māori side against Wales during the second World War.

Manupiri has expressed his disappointment in the rugby union for their lack of recognition of the squad.

"They're like forgotten people. These guys are forgotten."

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Manupiri claimed the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) said because they were not officially selected, they could not be recognised.

Although players were not necessarily selected by the NZRU, Manupiri said they were individually picked across different units for their sporting abilities.

"They weren't just ordinary players; these were good players."

The 28th Māori Battalion rugby team impressed many with their skills during the winter of 1940-41 in England, leading to an invitation from the Welsh Rugby Union to play a match at one of the most famous rugby grounds in Cardiff against a Welsh XV.

According to an article in the Māori Battalion reunion booklet from 1992, over 12,000 spectators attended the match, which was played under the constant threat of German bombers.

The game at Cardiff featured Welsh player Wilf Wooller, a renowned international sportsman.

New Zealand Rugby Museum director Stephen Berg said although the team was not directly highlighted there, they were acknowledged in some books and on the website.

Berg told RNZ the men were not there to play footy - they were there for war.

If the union were to recognise the Māori team, they would have to acknowledge and recall all the other New Zealand Battalion teams that played rugby during the war, which would be extensive work.

Recognition was ultimately the decision of the New Zealand Defence Force or the Rugby Union, Berg said.

Extreme trauma

However, Manupiri argued the men represented New Zealand internationally, undergoing extreme trauma by putting their lives on the line for their country.

Pitman - who was 22 when he went to war - was wounded during it, both physically and mentally. His son said his life, and the lives of all those men, were shattered.

"If they weren't good enough to be recognised, then when are we?"

Manupiri said his dad was shot in Gallipoli and left in Crete where he was cared for by locals.

This respite was short-lived, however, and Pitman was captured and became a prisoner of war.

When he eventually returned home aged 27, Pitman suffered from PTSD and harrowing nightmares for years, Manupiri said.

Post-war NZ racially divided

Māori returned to a country that was racially divided. Manupiri said his dad was made to walk on the other side of the road - separate from Pākeha.

Georgie Pakau, Herbert Manupiri's sister, also highlighted the racism faced by Māori soldiers within the NZ army and other countries, saying her father and others were often not allowed off the boat at ports on the way home because of their skin colour.

Pakau described the emotional burden carried by her dad, who she said rarely spoke of his time at war. "He told me that [enlisting] was an offer of going to see the world and [he would] be back by Christmas. No such thing.

"I have tears streaming down my face as I look at Dad's medals that he never wore and the hurt and trauma he carried trying to provide for his family."

She recalled his words - "War is not the answer to anything" - and said that trauma can be passed down through generations.

Manupiri wanted NZRU to uphold the team's mana and recognise them with a formal event where whānau could attend.

"It's hard that other people get recognised for playing sport, but these guys didn't.

"Did any of them know they were going to come home? They didn't know if that was going to be their last game.

"They played rugby for their country, and they gave their lives for their country. And what is it that [NZRU] don't want to know these guys?"

Upholding the team's mana

Outgoing Māori Rugby Board chairperson and New Zealand Rugby director Dame Farah Palmer acknowledged she knew little about the 28th Māori Battalion rugby team.

Palmer said she would be open to the idea of recognising them in a way that upholds the team's mana.

"This is something that we would love to explore a bit more, talk to the family about their concerns, see what we can do to acknowledge the mana of this team, whether it would be considered a fully New Zealand selected team.

"It's about acknowledging the mana of the team and the role that they played to represent Aotearoa New Zealand, and Māori, on the world stage."

Palmer said they would work behind the scenes with concerned whānau, such as Manupiri, and historians such as Malcolm Mulholland to see what information they can put together.

Palmer - who is also president of the New Zealand Rugby Museum - said she had strong ties with the Palmerston North Army base.

She expressed her apologies to Manupiri and whānau who were hurt about the team's lack of recognition and wanted to speak with them one-on-one - if they were open to it.

The Māori Rugby Board will meet in August, and Palmer said they would discuss the kaupapa then.

"Any chance to celebrate and acknowledge the role that Māori played in rugby, I'm all for it."

Defence Force response

In a statement to RNZ, the New Zealand Defence Force confirmed the 28th Māori Battalion's contribution to international rugby.

"The 28 (Māori) Battalion rugby team was one of a number of 2nd New Zealand Division unit rugby teams that played in North Africa and Italy during the Second World War.

"It won the 2nd New Zealand Division inter-unit rugby competition (the Freyberg Cup) in 1942. This trophy is currently held at the National Army Museum in Waiouru."

In the statement, the NZDF did not comment on a formal recognition process for the team.