August 24, 2017
Pearless start to D Company history
Te Kamupene D Rua Tekau Ma Waru Trust will hold a ceremony tomorrow at the 28 (Maori) Battalion Hall in Palmerston North to launch research into a history of the battalion’s D company.
Chair Tata Lawton says the battalion was formed in the city in 1940 and the hall is a constant reminder of the sacrifice Maoridom gave for the country.
Historian Harawira Pearless has been commissioned to head the research, starting with interviewing the only surviving veteran, Alfred (Bunty) Preece, of Moriori descent, who lives in the Chatham Islands.
He will also delve into the recorded and documented information available and talk with whanau who have taonga collected over the years including memorabilia, and written and photographic records.
D company was drawn from Tainui, central and lower North Island, all of the South Island, Stewart Island, the Chatham Islands, as well as the Pacific.
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