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The hunt is still on for photographs of Maori who served in World War One.
Monty Soutar, who writing a centenary history of Maori in the war says even though it was 100 years already about 300 pictures have come in from old family albums and tribal archives.
His earlier history of the Maori Battalion C Company, Nga Tamatoa, had 900 photographs of Battalion members in the back, and he wants to do something similar with the Pioneer Battalion and other units from the 1914 to 18 war.
He says at the time there were about 50,000 Maori in New Zealand, and 2500 went overseas, with 1000 killed or wounded.
"You think about that period, that was when they were saying the race was going to die out, all the predicitons were decreasing in numbers, yet they still put that number in service so we have got to thank them for what they did because attitudes changed after World War I to Maori in this country as a result," he says.
Images and information can be sent before October to the 28th Maori Battalion website: www.28maoribattalion.org.nz, or directly to Dr Soutar via email at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage: monty.soutar@mch.govt.nz
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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