REHABILITATION

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24021, 9 August 1943, Page 4

REHABILITATION

APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR LIEUTENANT-COLONEL F. BAKER MENTIONED From Our Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON, August 7. The likelihood of Lieutenant-Colonel F. Baker, former commander of the Maori Battalion, being appointed Director of Rehabilitation, is being discussed in Parliamentary circles, consequent on the remark of Mr J. Hodgens (Government. Palmerston North) this week that a distinguished officer who had served with the Maori Battalion might be associated in the work with the new Minister of Rehabilitation, the Hon. C. F. Skinner. In civil life, Lieu-tenant-Colonel Baker is a senior officer of the State Advances Department. There is also some suggestion that there may be an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act to make for ijore efficient working, but it is not thought that anything will be done this session It is suggested that a separate department may be set up, although it is considered that rehabilitation machinery will continue to act largely to coordinate the work of several State departments necessarily concerned with national reconstruction as it effects returned servicemen. Lieutenant-Colonel Baker, who succeeded the late Lieutenant-Colonel E. T. W. Love in the command of the Maori Battalion, was born near Kohukohu, in the North Auckland district, and belongs to the Nga-Puhi tribe. He was educated at' the Whangarei District High School, where he distinguished himself as an athlete, and subsequently became well known in the North Island as a Rugby player. On leaving school he was for a time on the clerical staff of the Public Works Department. He was transferred later to the Audit Office in Wellington, and was on the staff of the State Advances Corporation when war broke out. Colonel Baker is a member of the Australasian Institute of Secretaries, and of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. Before the war he held a commission in the Waikato Mounted Rifles He joined the Maori Battalion in camp at Papakura as a lieutenant, and was promoted captain. A former commander of the Maori Battalion, Brigadier F. Dittmer, has described Colonel Baker as “an officer of fine type, and a great leader of men in action.’’ The fearless manner in which he, as a lieutenant, led his men in Greece and Crete won him mention in dispatches; Before returning to New Zealand he was promoted major. For a short time he was a prisoner of war, but managed to escape from his German captors. He rejoined the Maoris in Crete, and was with them when they returned to Egypt. After a short period in hospital he rejoined the Battalion in Libya. Colonel Baker returned to New Zealand early this year. He is 35 years old, is married, and has one daughter.