Pork pies in Italy and other war stories
Aperira/April 23, 2025
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Kia ora e te whānau,
Nau mai, hoki mai ki Te Arawhata, the newsletter helping us all to keep up with, connect with—and just ruddy enjoy—te ao Māori ia wiki, ia wiki.
Coming right up; a whole new bunch of kaupapa Māori news, events, and recommendations you don’t want to miss, including powerful reflections by Sir Rob ‘Bom’ Gillies and (quite separately) the most joyful reo Māori mistakes we’ve ever witnessed.
Then in ‘kōrero’ we’re remembering the 28th Māori Battalion with some lesser known war stories—starting in Italy with one unlucky poaka/pig. Āe, these yarns highlight the lighter moments e hoa mā, but that doesn’t mean we’re pretending the horrors didn’t take place too. Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou/We will remember them.
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Pork pies in Italy and other war stories
from the documentary ‘Māori Battalion March to Victory’
With ANZAC day approaching we’re bringing back this piece featuring a few precious tales we found in our research on the 28th Māori Battalion.
The films, websites, and books we turned to (and have linked to) were full of the horrors of war which, of course, should be shared and acknowledged. But they also included the lighter moments; unlikely, surprising, and truly funny scenarios ngā tāne/the men of the Māori Battalion found themselves in along the way. It’s those stories that we’ve chosen to highlight today.
We hope they help you to connect with and understand these men at a deeper level, to conjure a fuller picture of the scenes they left at home and went on to face tāwāhi/abroad, and to remember them as the brave soldiers—but also the funny, flawed, young boys—they were.
Read on for five mins of friendly rivalries between companies, pork pies in Italy, a food truck worth it’s weight in gold, and a problem the male truck drivers never had…
Friendly rivalries…
In the documentary ‘Māori Battalion March to Victory’ five Māori Battallion solders, now elderly men, reminisce;
‘I remember marching onto a parade you see, and the A Company would be, of course, first on the mark and then the orders were given to halt and B Company would march on and—because everybody was trying to put on a good show—you’d hear the A Companies say under their breath, “Ahhh bloody Penny Divers!”’
The men start chuckling and the man talking raises his voice, ‘And then C Company would march on and you’d hear the Rotorua boys say, “Ahhhh, those Cowboys!”’
Laughter erupts around the room.
‘And then “Halt! C Company halt!” And then of course along the line to the United Nations…”
He’s cut off as the laughter turns into a roar and the old men hold their bellies and smack their knees remembering the friendly rivalries that got them through.
Pork pies in Italy…
‘Brigadier Hanson recounts humorous stories’ on the 28th Māori Battalion website
‘So the Italians have their pigs and their poultry all in the same dwelling and on one occasion the Māoris were occupying a house in an outpost position, and as you also know, the Italians, although in the front line, gathered together and sat in these houses until the battle moved on.
On one side of the house was a great high brick wall—the side facing the enemy—and the pigs were on that side of the house. Well, this Māori platoon found this pig and thought it was in very desirable condition but they could see no way of getting it from the place without the Italians knowing.
Then one night about 10 o'clock there was a burst of a couple of grenades outside this brick wall. Then there were some shots from a tommy gun and a great racket kicked up, all going on beyond this brick wall. And then came the call from inside, for the stretcher bearers.
The poor Italians were terribly upset at this and when the stretcher emerged they all stood up and bowed their heads with the women all weeping as the stretcher with the blanket, neatly covering the body of the pig, passed by...’
A food truck worth its weight in gold
Te Rau Aroha, a hidden treasure on the National Army website
‘Te Rau Aroha’ was a mobile canteen for the Māori Battalion purchased and equipped through impressive fundraising appeals from ‘Native Schools’. It was a much loved companion for the boys, known for its treats, radio, passionate driver, Charles Basil Bennet, from the YMCA, and at one point, a piano from one of Mussolini’s mate’s mansions…
Te Rau Aroha was so a part of the Māori Battalion, it even became a fighting vehicle. After a battle at El Aghiela, east of Tripoli, an English Officer recounted that he could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the Māori Battalion charging at speed down the hill—the old YMCA van with Charlie at it’s helm—smack bang in their midst!
A problem the male truck drivers never had…
From ‘War Stories Our Mother Never Told Us’ on NZ on Screen.
When Mabel’s partner left to join the Māori Battalion, she took up his mahi.
‘My young brother and I had to run our business, which was a school bus run—passenger and general goods.
One day I was unloading a petrol drop, people used to order petrol in 44 gallon drums, so I wheeled it around and then I just got it on and… crack! I felt it in my chest and oh it was painful so I went home and then rushed up to the hospital.
They plastered me up with a very wide plaster which was good cos I said to them, “I’ve got to be on that truck again in the morning!” So they put the plaster on but as I was coming down the steps I realised, my son was still on the breast (cos he would NOT finish taking the breast). So I went back and I said, “Oh, there’s something wrong…” And so what we did was cut some holes for the nipples through the plaster!’
Mabel covers her mouth as she laughs.
“And of course my son was quite happy with that so anyway we came back and the next day I was on the cream run again!”
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Cheers for being with us this week fam. If anyone has a family member who was in the 28th Māori Battalion alongside our great uncles or in the home party supporting them, we’d love to hear your stories if you feel like replying.
Here’s to a special ANZAC day remembering them all.
Catch ya ā tērā wiki.
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