MAORI SOLDIERS

Grey River Argus, 26 March 1943, Page 2

MAORI SOLDIERS

SHOULD NOT GO TO PACIFIC. SIR APIRANA NGATA SPEAKS. P.A. • AUCKLAND, March 24. "The place for the Maori soldier is where his brothers are serving now and where the Maori dead are lying,” declared Sir Apirana Ngata at the welcome given at Ohinemutu recently to a section of the 2nd. Maori Battalion —a statement which I was received with applause by the soldiers drawn up on the marae. ■'Sir Apirana stated that it was the considered opinion of the tribal representatives who had so far arrived that this battalion should not be sent to the South Pacific. He spoke in high appreciation of the service that 'the Maori Battalion of the find. Expeditionary Force had rendered. The men, he said, had been true to the traditions of their race, and he indicated his firm belief that the wish of the men of the 2nd. Battalion would be to join their brothers in the Middle East. If they were asked to volunteer for Pacific service, no doubt they would all step forward, but what their feet might do was not what was in their hearts.

Captain W. Panapa, Chaplain to the 2nd. .Battalion, who spoke in Maori and was not interpreted, said that it was not for the battalion to offer any opinion, but they were anxious to know what the tribal representatives would decide. On their judgment they would rely.