Māori soldiers from the 28th Battalion preform a haka for the King of Greece in Egypt, June 1941.
Men of the 28th Māori Battalion who had fought in the Greek campaign, performing a haka for the King of Greece at Helwan, Egypt, around 24 June 1941. The black and white original (see in comments below) was taken by an unidentified official photographer and is on file at both the Imperial War Museum, London, and at the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. Sadly, three of the four men identifiable in this photo were killed in action in the following two years, and they lie buried under the North African sand on which they so splendidly performed. Only one came home, the man in the foreground.
They are (left to right): John Manuel, Maaka ‘Bill’ White, Te Kooti ‘Scotty’ Reihana and Rangi Henderson.
John Manuel died on 15 December, 1941, at the attack on Point 152, Libya, when he was killed by artillery fire.
Bill White, of Hicks Bay, died on 23 November 1941 when he was shot during the approach to Sollum Barracks, Egypt. Scotty Reihana, of Rangitukia, East Coast, was wounded in action but survived the war and died in 1973. Rangi Henderson was killed by machine gun fire on 26 March 1943 in fighting at Tebaga Gap, Tunisia.
Photo per Imperial War Museum, London, # E 003261.
Colourised by Daniel Rarity.
Caption by Tony Brunt
