Kua topa te kapa haka o Ngāti Whakaue me ōna koeke ki Itāria, ki reira whakamaharatia ai te parekuratanga o te tini, i te pakanga nui o Monte Cassino, e waru tekau tau ki muri.
Tekau ma rima ngā mema o te kapa toa o Te Arawa ka haere hei huruhuru mō ngā waewae o te mōrehu o te Rua Tekau mā Waru, arā, mō Tā Rāpata “Bom” Gillies, kua hoki hei rangatira motuhenga mō te hui whakamahara, ka tū hei te 19 me te 20 o Mei.
Ka whakamaharatia te rongonui me te rongotoa o ngā hoia i kōkiri i te whana-tuku-tahi, ki te teihana tereina o Cassino, i te Pepuere 1944.
Hei tā Tenga Rangitauira, te kaiako o te kapa, he kaupapa nui tēnei kua roa e whakamanahia ana e te kapa i roto i ngā waiata, me ngā waiata a te iwi tonu.
“Kei te hikaka te ngākau, kei te rewa te ngākau i tēnei haerenga a mātou e tautoko ana i tō tātou Koroua i a Koro Bom, i a ia ka haere atu ki te whakakanohi i ōna hoa mō te waru tekau tau o te pakanga i tū ki maunga Kāhino, ana, koinei te kapa o Ngāti Whakaue te haere ki tōna taha ki te tautoko i tērā o ngā mōrehu.”
Kaore he parekura i tua atu i te pakanga i Maunga Kahino mō te Rua Tekau mā Waru.
Tū tei ana ko te maunga e 500m tōna teitei, i tōna ātārangi ko te awa Rapido, me te teihana tereina, i mate ai te tini o rātou.
I te pō o te 17/18 Pepuere 1944, i whakaekea te teihana tereina e te Māori Battalion. Engari i te korenga o ngā waka rino i āhei ki te whakawhiti i te awa, ka mate ngā toa Māori i te manu kāwhaki, me te karo i ngā tini kariri a ngā Tiamani.
Ko Kamupene A me Kamupene B ngā tira e rua i kaha parekuratia, 128 o ngā hoia 200 i mate, i tautō, i mauheretia rānei.
I kōkiri anō a Aotearoa i te marama o Maehe, i mua i tōna wehenga i te Aperira. Nā wai, ka wikitoria i ngā Porana te pakanga mō Cassino i te Mei 1944.
Hei tā Tenga Rangitauira, ka whakamaharatia rātou katoa i maringi ai te tono e waru tekau tau ki muri.
“Nō mātou te koroua nei. Nō reira e tika ana, kaua noaiho mōna, engari, mō ngā koroua katoa, i haere atu ki ngā pakanga nui o te ao. Nā reira ko tā mātou mahi he haere atu ki ēnei momo kaupapa me te whakanui i rātou, te maumahara i ā rātou mahi mā tātou, ngā uri whakaheke.”
“Ka mutu ko mātou tēnei te kapa haka o Ngāti Whakaue ka whakatairanga, ka waiata, ka haka mō Koro Bom me ōna hoa katoa.”
Ka tau te tira haere ki Roma hei te 16. Ā, hei te 23 hoki mai ai ki te wā kāinga.
