recognising Haane Manahi

Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Whakaue

On the night on 19 April 1943 during the Battle of Takrouna in Tunisia, Lance Sergeant Manahi was in command of a section. He was with his platoon of Māori Battalion soldiers trying to capture a piece of a rocky outcrop but they were under heavy fire by Italian and German soldiers. The battle lasted all night and by the morning the platoon was losing its strength and seemed be making no progress.

In order to reach their goal Lance Sergeant Manahi decided that he must take a tiny band of his men up the very steep western side of the rock-face. It was one hundred and fifty metres of cliff-face and the last fifty were so steep they were almost straight up but the men kept going even they were still being fired at constantly.

This act took incredible courage and strength was described by Lieutenant General Sir Brian Horrocks, 13 Corps Commander, as being one of the bravest things he had ever seen during the war. This bravery so impressed Lance Sergeant Manahi’s generals they recommended him for the Victoria Cross medal which is the military highest award anyone can receive for courage in battle.

For some unknown reason, this was never awarded to Lance Sergeant Manahi and was downgraded to a Distinguished Conduct Medal instead which confused and disappointed his supporters who knew how brave his actions had really been.

Lance Sergeant Manahi died many years later without ever having received the Victoria Cross many thought he deserved. The Returned Service Association and the New Zealand government petitioned Queen Elizabeth to have them award the medal posthumously (posthumous means after someone has died) but the Queen refused because of a rule against awarding extra medals after the Second World War was over. She did however agree that they would like to honour him somehow.

In 2007, an historic ceremony occurred at Te Papaiōuru Marae, Ōhinemutu where the Duke of York presented a letter from the Queen acknowledging Lance Sergeant Manahi’s bravery, the Te Arawa Sword of Gallantry for Haane Manahi ceremonial sword, a symbolic cloth for the altar at St Faith’s Church and a very special patu were all part of the memorable occasion.

In this way, the humble and heroic Lance Sergeant Haane Manahi was finally recognised properly for the courageous actions he took on that night in 1943 on the other side of the world, in a country called Tunisia.

Values: diligence, humility, identity

Here’s a tip:

Studying the 28 Māori Battalion at school and need help? Rotorua Library has plenty of books and resources to help you. Just ask their Heritage and Research librarians and they will help you find the information you are looking for.

More to watch:

See some of the ceremony held at Te Papaiouru Marae to honour Haane Manahi in 2007:

https://28maoribattalion.org.nz/video/royal-ceremony-haane-manahi-2007

Te Arawa Sword of Gallantry for Haane Manahi being presented to Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short:

http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/new-chief-defence-force-receives-haane-manahi-sword

See a special 2012 Waka Huia documentary about Haane Manahi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gnIpbOtEPg

More to listen to:

http://eng.kiamau.tki.org.nz/Multimedia/Company-B/Battle-at-Takrouna

This entry is related to these other entries:

28 Māori Battalion; The Spirit of Te Makawe

Sources:

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/haane-te-rauawa-manahi

https://28maoribattalion.org.nz/node/3908