December 06, 2022
Missing medals restore pride to whānau
A Tūwharetoa-Te Arawa man says his whole whanau felt a sense of pride at being able to collect the Māori Battalion service medals of their late koro.
Saturday’s ceremony for the whānau of 89 B Company soldier at Te Papaiōuru Marae in Rotorua drew more than 1000 people, including the last surviving 28 Māori Battalion veteran, Sir Robert ‘Bom’ Gillies.
Lincoln Savage says his koro Charles Bunny Savage was one of the hundreds of battalion members who did not receive their medals after the war.
That may be one of the reasons he never acknowledged Anzac Day or took his children to services.
The ceremony in Rotorua was the fifth to be held around the country on the back of work initiated by C Company descendant David Stone, with the next medal ceremonies at Trentham on December 17 and Waitangi on February 18 next year.