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November 08, 2024
Peeni Henare tributes Tā Bom fierceness
Atereano Mateariki
Posted On November 8, 2024
Download AudioFormer Defence Minister Peeni Henare pays further tribute to Tā Robert ‘Bom’ Nairn Gillies, who passed away yesterday.
Tā Bom was 99 and the last surviving member of the 28th Māori Battalion, which was comprised of 700-750 Māori men who fought in World War II.
Henare, whose grandfather Tā Hemi Henare was the last commanding officer of the 28th, says Bom was a humble man with a quick wit.
The love he had for his whānau was fierce, as was his drive for independence despite his old age.
“I recall one story, as we were looking towards how we were going to pick up Koro bomb and take him up to Waitangi to celebrate the battalion kaupapa, they went around to pick him up, and at the tender age of 97 he was on his roof, fixing his roof, and his response when he was asked to come down was, ‘well, no one else is going to do it, so I’m going to do it’,” says Henare.
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