My grandfather was an ANZAC, a New Zealander who fought in North Africa and then Italy, specifically Monte Cassino. The Maori Battalion are also ANZACs.
He fought along side them in both theatres. At Monte Cassino (which was one of the bloodiest battles in all of Western Europe). The elite German paratroopers were terrified of the ANZACs specifically because the Maori battalion would take ears as trophies (wether the German who owned them was alive or not).
Any way, he spent a hellish 3 months at Cassino until a German machine gunner put a dozen bullets in his legs. He then met my grandmother on the hospital ship. She was a nurse. All the New Zealand members of the ANZACs would do a Haka, wether Maori or Pakeha (White).
"Survivors of the Battle of Greece from the Māori Battalion performing a haka in Helwan, Egypt, for King George II of Greece.
This infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army was raised in 1940 as part of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, following pressure by some Māori Members of Parliament and organisations throughout the country. The battalion fought during the Greek, North African and Italian campaigns and gained a formidable reputation. After the war, the battalion contributed a contingent of personnel to serve in Japanas part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, before being disbanded in January 1946."
btsquid on May 4th, 2019 at 09:04 UTC »
Seeing so much emotion in the photo makes it look recent. There's something about most old photos where everything seems motionless. Very cool.
Nickadeamus36 on May 4th, 2019 at 09:04 UTC »
My grandfather was an ANZAC, a New Zealander who fought in North Africa and then Italy, specifically Monte Cassino. The Maori Battalion are also ANZACs.
He fought along side them in both theatres. At Monte Cassino (which was one of the bloodiest battles in all of Western Europe). The elite German paratroopers were terrified of the ANZACs specifically because the Maori battalion would take ears as trophies (wether the German who owned them was alive or not).
Any way, he spent a hellish 3 months at Cassino until a German machine gunner put a dozen bullets in his legs. He then met my grandmother on the hospital ship. She was a nurse. All the New Zealand members of the ANZACs would do a Haka, wether Maori or Pakeha (White).
-kez on May 4th, 2019 at 10:26 UTC »
"Survivors of the Battle of Greece from the Māori Battalion performing a haka in Helwan, Egypt, for King George II of Greece.
This infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army was raised in 1940 as part of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, following pressure by some Māori Members of Parliament and organisations throughout the country. The battalion fought during the Greek, North African and Italian campaigns and gained a formidable reputation. After the war, the battalion contributed a contingent of personnel to serve in Japanas part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, before being disbanded in January 1946."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/2016-04-25