MAORI SOLDIERS
KEEN TO FIGHT. WAR INCIDENT RECALLED One of the most striking incidents of the Great War, and one that has been almost entirely forgotten, was recalled in an address given by Mr. John Bennett, a son of the Bishop of Aotearoa, at Havelock North. Mr. Bennett, who inherits his father's gift of language, and his picturesque manner of expression, told how the first Maori contingent was sent to Malta for garrisori duty, the military staff and the New Zealand Government having decided that it would not be just to expose to the dangers of war the representatives of a race which at that time was only just beginning to win the fight against natural extinction. The Maoris, however, became impatient of the attempt to keep them from sharing in the fighting, and made themselves heard to such effect that it was decided to allow them to go on real active service. One day on parade those who wished to stay in Malta on garrison duty, said Mr. Bennett, were given the order to slope arms. " Not an eye flickered, and not a rifle moved," he said.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 15
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188MAORI SOLDIERS New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 15
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