17 October 2006

Sixty-three years after his bravery on a desert battlefield, one of New Zealand’s greatest war heroes has just received the recognition he deserved.

Her Majesty the Queen has personally recognised the heroic actions of the late Lance Sergeant Haane Manahi by presenting him with an award inspired by “For God! For King! And for Country!” from the marching song of the Maori Battalion, with which LSGT Manahi served.

LSGT Manahi was recommended for a Victoria Cross after his feats during a battle for control of a steep ridge in Tunisia, North Africa, in 1943. But although three generals recommended him for the VC, the award was downgraded to a Distinguished Conduct Medal without explanation – apparently because another Maori soldier, LT Moananui Ngarimu, had received a posthumous VC for bravery in a similar action only three weeks before.

While LSGT Manahi, who died in a car crash in 1986 aged 72, was never worried by the change, members of his Te Arawa tribe and former comrades have campaigned for him to get the medal he deserved.

A fourth and final bid for the Victoria Cross was taken to Buckingham Palace by Defence Minister Phil Goff earlier this year. It was rejected by The Queen, who followed her father King George’s 1949 decision that no further awards from the war should be considered.

Mr Goff spoke to whanau, veterans, supporters and representatives from New Zealand Defence Force gathered at LSGT Manahi’s grave in Muruika Cemetery, Rotorua, last weekend (7 October) to recognise the late soldier’s bravery.

“Sir Robin [Janvrin, The Queen’s private secretary] said that Her Majesty had asked him first to reiterate Her great admiration for Lance Sergeant Manahi’s remarkable bravery”, said Mr Goff. The reports of witnesses and commanders at the time said there was evidence that a recommendation for the award of the Victoria Cross was by no means unjustified and that Lance Sergeant Manahi was clearly deserving of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, a significant decoration in its own right.

“However, he said that Her Majesty places great store by King George VI’s decision shortly after the Second World War that no further awards for service during the war should be considered.”

However, the palace has agreed to compensate LSGT Manahi by presenting him with an award comprised of an altar cloth, representing “For God”, which will go to Saint Faith’s Church, near his resting place; a letter from the Queen acknowledging his bravery, representing “For King”; and a sword gifted to Te Arawa, representing “For Country”.

The tribe will give the sword to the Chief of Defence Force (CDF), with a patu in Manahi’s memory. The sword will be displayed in the Office of the CDF, and the patu will be worn, on appropriate occasions, as part of the dress of the Chief of Defence Force.

Mr Goff said the gifts would be a “tangible link between Manahi, The Queen, Te Arawa and the Defence Force”.

The submission to the palace included Major General Walter Thomas’s description of the night of 19 April, 1943. “After unusually fierce fighting we had penetrated the German defences, but our position was extremely precarious because of the steady enemy fire from high up on the feature. When the fire abated we became aware that the Maoris had captured the feature – and were shouting their triumph down to us.”

MAJ GEN Thomas later realised LSGT Manahi had led the charge and “when I saw the steep nature of the ground, the mass of enemy dug-outs and weapons, I realised what an absolute epic the battle must have been”.

Photo Gallery - Issue 365