The future of Anzac celebrations is under the spotlight, as the number of surviving World War II veterans decline.
The last surviving veteran of the 28th Māori Battalion, Sir Robert ‘Bom’ Gillies was interred in Rotorua on Tuesday, farewelled in stately fashion.
Returned Services Association national president and All Black legend Sir Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford was among many in attendance.
“It’s 108 years old now, we’ll never forget Anzac,” he said. “We’ll never forget the Second World War and the 28th Māori Battalion and what they’re done. And we’ve got to keep all that alive as well.
“But we also have to move forward to the wars that are coming. To the wars that have been Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Tīmor Leste, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq. So we gotta get those in there now because the soldiers have never been recognised, the way they were for World War I.”
Shelford said he grew up in Rotorua on tales of Sir Bom’s valour and was fortunate enough to get to know the beloved veteran through his work for the RSA.
“The last time I saw him over here was with the medal ceremony [for] the 28th Māori Battalion B Company. "
“And then he got an official gift for the day, you know, because he’d already had his medals and all that stuff. They gave this and they gave a taonga and it’s a big patu, a patu he was given, a greenstone. And so he looked at me and said, ‘well, what am I going to do with this?’
Shelford, who was sharing this tale with The Hui presenter Julian Wilcox during its tangihanga broadcast said he had told Gillies to just put it in the drawer with his niece or nephew’s name on it.
Respected veterans of the NZ Defence Force were among those who also flocked to Te Papaiōuru marae, to pay final respects for their fallen comrade.
RSA kaumātua, Vietnam veteran and Māori broadcaster, Miki Apiti was one of them and shared his fond memories of Gillies,
“Tēnei tangata tino hūmārie, tana mea ka kite mai i ahau, ka haere mai ki te mihi mai ki a au, ka whakaaro au, “eta!” He tangata noa iho au, karekau tētahi atu mea e haere mai ana tēnei rangatira o Te Arawa ki te mihi mai ki a au.”
“This very humble person, when he sees me, comes to greet me, I think to myself, “jeez!” I am just an ordinary person, and there is no other thing happening, yet this chief of Te Arawa is coming to greet me.”
A mokopuna of the 28th Māori Battalion, C Company, and Ngāti Porou descendant Ngarimu Parata also paid tribute to the war veteran.
“Ko te momo o tēnei koroua nā [e] kōrero nā koe ko te mōrehu, ko te mea whakamutunga o ngā mōrehu i ho mai i te pakanga tuarua o te ao. Kōrero nā koe mō te pāpā rā i a Hemana Waaka, ārahi mai i te tira kei runga i te marae i tēnei wā, whakaaro au mōna ka whakaaro ki tērā o ngā toki tērā o ngā rahi o Tūhoe ki a (Tā) John Tūrei tērā mōrehu o te pakanga rua tekau mā waru o te pakanga tuarua o te ao.”
“He is, as you have said, a survivor, the last surviving war veteran from the Second World War. You spoke about Hemana Waaka, who led the group on the marae today. I think about him and think about that generation, those leaders of Tūhoe like (Sir) John Tūrei, a 28th battalion survivor of the Second World War.”
