Tā Robert Gillies Kamupene B, 28 (Māori) Battalion stands with Aake Ake Kia Kaha, The 28 (Māori) Battalion Battle Honours Memorial Flag at St Faiths, Ohinemutu. Photo: Harawira Craig Pearless / Supplied
For the first time in 76 years, the 28th Māori Battalion Battle Honours memorial flag will be fully displayed and recognised in Rotorua for Waitangi Day.
It will be presented at Muruika, Ohinemutu on 6 February by Tā Robert Gillies, the last remaining member of the 28th Māori Battalion who served in B Company during World War II from 1942-1945.
Last year he was knighted for a second time after previously turning it down twice, accepting it on behalf of the soldiers he fought alongside.
The Battalion's 42 Campaign and Battle Honours will acknowledge the sovereign which recognises their presence, since the campaign and battle honours have never been displayed.
Tā Robert says recognition of the campaign is 70 years too late.
"We were volunteers, not conscripts, and we fought for six long years. The whole battalion agrees."
More than 3600 young Māori were part of the 28th Māori Battalion. More than 600 of them were killed during the war.
For years, Tā Robert has called for the Crown to apologise for the treatment of Māori soldiers after their return.
Despite the huge sacrifices these soldiers made, when they returned to New Zealand very little was changed in terms of policy and equality for Māori.
Soldiers who fought in the battalion weren't allowed to enter RSAs, hotels and other public places, and were told to leave.
More than 600 soldiers who fought in the battalion never received their medals either.
Members of the 28th Māori Battalion return home in 1946 Photo: Supplied
Tā Robert has been fighting another battle of his own, trying to get recognition for the battalion by representing it at events across Aotearoa.
Lawyer David Stone is also working to help retrieve the medals of those soldiers who never received them.
In December, a ceremony was held in Ohinemutu where the whānau of 89 soldiers were finally awarded their medals at Te Papaiōuru Marae in Rotorua.
Tā Robert wants the New Zealand Defence Force Māori Battalion flag and the 28th Māori Battalion Battle Honours Memorial to stand next to each other as pou maumahara (memorial carving), to highlight the sacrifices tangata whenua made during World War II.
Tā Robert will also present the flag at Waitangi on 18 February, where a kawe mate (mourning ceremony) will take place before returning to the Taonga Tūpāpaku to Waitangi on Anzac Day 2023.
28 Māori Battalion flag raised with full honours for the first time
The 28 Māori Battalion flag was raised for the first time with the full honours during a ceremony at Ōhinemutu, on the shores of Lake Rotorua. Photo: RNZ/ Pokere Paewai
For the first time ever a flag bearing the full battle honours of the 28 Māori Battalion has been publicly displayed.
The award of 42 Campaign and Battle Honours was presented by the New Zealand Army, to be recognised for the first time in 76 years.
The formal award meant the battalion could now display its battle and military traditions.
And the flag bearing the honours was raised this morning by the last remaining member of the battalion, Tā Robert 'Bom' Gillies at Ōhinemutu, on the shores of Lake Rotorua.
Tā Robert 'Bom' Gillies Photo: RNZ/ Pokere Paewai
"It's a pity they waited so long and all my comrades are all passed on. I happen to be fortunate enough to be the last one, so in honour of them it'll be great," Sir Robert said.
The flag was commissioned by historian Dr Harawira Pearless on behalf of Sir Robert, and was named 'Ake Ake Kia Kaha,' after the motto of the Māori Battalion.
Historian Dr Harawira Pearless Photo: RNZ/ Pokere Paewai
Pearless said battle honours on the flag commemorated the battles and burial grounds of the battalion.
"The 28 Māori Battalion Campaign and Battle Honours flag is the pā whakawairua, it's the anchor stone of 28 Māori Battalion's military traditions and histories.
"It has not been seen before with all 42 Campaign and Battle Honours on display," he said.
Pearless said Sir Robert was the only person with the mana to raise the flag.
"Tā Bom Gillies is the representation of the battalion.
"There were 3500 men that went, there were 650 men who never came home. He carries the rangatiratanga of the battalion as we know it today," he said.
The ceremony today, at Ōhinemutu Photo: RNZ/ Pokere Paewai
Sir Robert was humble about his part in the battalion's story, and initially had refused to accept a knighthood.
"That doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the 3500 plus men who served in the battalion - in all the battalion's campaigns, which we've put on the flag," he said.
But he was happy to see the battalion finally receive this recognition.
"I have no idea why [the crown] dragged the chain. But apart from that, today is the day when it all settled."
Originally the plan was to present the flag at Waitangi today, but Sir Robert's whānau had asked for the ceremony to happen closer to home.
Sir Robert would also present the flag at Waitangi on 18 February.
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