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Former policeman and soldier Harawira Craig Pearless has been commissioned to write the history of 28 Maori Battalion’s D Company.
Mr Pearless, of Ngati Huia and Ngati Raukawa descent, has a Masters in Management majoring in dispute resolution.
He has also worked as a district security advisor with the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, and has visited many of the battlegrounds around the world where Maori soldiers fought.
The Ngarimu VC and 28th (Maori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board has commissioned histories of the A, B, and D companies to complement Nga Tama Toa, the C Company history published in 2008.
The B Company history is being done by Sir Harawira Gardiner.
D Company drew its men from a much wider area, covering the Waikato-Maniapoto confederation, the Taranaki, Wellington and Manawatu-Horowhenua tribes, Ngati Kahungunu of Hawke’s Bay-
Wairarapa, the entire South Island, the Chathams and Stewart Island,as well a small number of recruits from the Pacific Islands.
Education minister Hekia Parata says when the books are completed they will mark a significant step towards further preserving the legacy of the battalion and form the basis for curriculum resources to be used in early childhood education centres, kohanga reo, kura and schools.
She says whanau participation will be crucial to the project’s success, as they hold the stories, letters, photos and records that will breathe life and colour into the D Company history.
As well as documenting D Company’s major battles, actions and engagements during World War II, Mr Pearless will also discuss the support of the hou kainga to the war effort.
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