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Ceremony to honour Lance Sergeant Haane Manahi

Ceremony to honour the gallantry of Lance Sergeant Haane Manahi

We are here today to honour the courage and leadership of Haane Manahi, one of Te Arawa's greatest sons.

---------------------------------

Te Papaiouru Marae
Ohinemutu, Rotorua

E ngâ mana, e ngâ reo, e ngâ karangatanga maha, tçnâ koutou katoa.

E ngâ iwi o Te Arawa, kei te mihi atu ki a koutou i tçnei râ whakahirahira.

Kei te mihi ahau ki te whenua, te tûranga o Te Arawa, me te marae atea.

Ka haere tonu ngâ mihi ki te whare tupuna ko Tamatekapua.

Tçnâ koutou i o tâtou tini mate.
Haere koutou ki te karanga o Hinenuitepo, haere ki te pô roa.

Kua tangi atu ki a ratou. Tatou te kanohi ora tçnâ tâtou.


We are here today to honour the courage and leadership of Haane Manahi, one of Te Arawa's greatest sons.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, Haane Manahi joined the 28th (Maori) Battalion. He travelled far from Ohinemutu, the village of his birth, to fight in lands far from New Zealand.

Lance Sergeant Manahi fought in Greece, Crete, and North Africa. He played a pivotal role in the 1943 attack on Takrouna in Tunisia.

All accounts of that battle - and we will hear some of those today - praise his outstanding courage, tenacity and leadership.

The battle at Takrouna was a time of great sacrifice for New Zealand troops. It was also an important victory in the campaign, and was followed, a few weeks later, by the surrender of the Italian and German forces in North Africa.

Lance Sergeant Manahi's courageous actions during the battle of Takrouna moved the military chain of command to recommend him for the award of a Victoria Cross. For reasons that are now unknown, that recommendation was changed to a Distinguished Conduct Medal - the second highest military decoration for non-commissioned personnel.

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Since that time, the descendants of Lance Sergeant Manahi, the Manahi VC Committee, Ngati Whakaue, and the Te Arawa Confederation of Tribes have been on a long journey of their own, to secure due recognition for the extraordinary bravery and devotion to duty of Haane Manahi.

I pay particular tribute to Sir Charles Bennett, the Commanding Officer of the 28th (Maori) Battalion during the battle for Takrouna. Working with Norman Bennett, Ernie Dix, and others, Sir Charles led the Manahi VC Committee's campaign until his death in 1998.

After his death, the Committee continued his legacy, working closely with the Manahi family and with Te Arawa.

For many years, successive governments looked at the issue in the context of the formal requirements of the Honours system, which is necessarily based on strict rules and precedents. For Te Arawa, however, there was a much broader principle at stake.

Te Arawa sought recognition for Haane Manahi - not just in his own right, but as a representative of Te Arawa, and of Maori generally. Te Arawa expected that in return for contributing so many of its finest young men to the war effort, recognition would be given for their heroism.

The failure to recognise Haane Manahi's heroism adequately caused ongoing hurt to Te Arawa.

When Te Arawa brought a claim about Haane Manahi to the Waitangi Tribunal, the Tribunal could see that the parties were talking past each other.

The Waitangi Tribunal responded sensitively and constructively, encouraging the government and Te Arawa to work together to resolve the matter. That was the point at which the real listening, the real conversation, began.

A joint submission on the Manahi case was developed by the government and Te Arawa, in a spirit of co-operation and partnership.

There was another journey - this time to London, where Hon Phil Goff, representing the government, Donna Hall, representing Te Arawa, and Norman Bennett, representing the Manahi VC Committee, delivered the joint submission to the Queen's private secretary in person.

As you know, the response to that submission reiterated Her Majesty's great admiration for the great bravery of Lance Sergeant Manahi, but explained that the Queen places great importance on the decision of her father, King George VI, in 1949, that no further awards for World War II should be considered.

The Queen, however, wished careful thought to be given to further recognition of the gallantry of Lance Sergeant Manahi.

The process of working together helped us all to understand Her Majesty's position, and to accept her decision in the spirit in which it was offered.

The offer of alternative recognition, with which the Queen asked to be personally associated, showed that Te Arawa's wish that Haane Manahi's heroism be recognised had been heard and understood.

It is indeed a sign of the Queen's great admiration for Te Arawa and its sons and daughters that Her Majesty has sent her son, His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, to represent her in honouring the gallantry of Lance Sergeant Manahi today.

His Royal Highness has brought with him gifts to Te Arawa from the Queen. These gifts have been carefully chosen to honour the courage of Haane Manahi, the man, and Te Arawa, his people.

The altar frontal, the letter from Her Majesty the Queen, and the sword, echo the famous refrain of the 28th (Maori) Battalion's marching song - "for God, for King and for Country".

I believe that Haane Manahi - by all accounts a very humble man - would have been pleased that the Queen's recognition of his gallantry, by this reference, honours all of the soldiers of the 28th (Maori) Battalion.

In honouring the courage of Haane Manahi today, we honour the courage of his comrades: both those still living and those who fell in North Africa. We honour the contribution of Te Arawa in fighting for our country.

We honour the iwi throughout New Zealand whose young men and women have served their country selflessly and with distinction.

And we honour the spirit of duty and loyalty imbuing all those serving in the New Zealand Defence Force, now and in the past. The people of New Zealand take pride in their service.

E ai ki te kôrero He toka tû moana, arâ he toa rongonui. E ngâ iwi tçnâ koutou, tçnâ koutou, tçnâ tâtou katoa.


Translations

Introduction

I recognise and greet the prestige, the voices and the many afiliations of people gathered here.

The tribes and people of Te Arawa I greet you on this very significant day.

I acknowledge the land, the standing place of Te Arawa and this courtyard.

I also greet the ancestral house, Tamatekapua.
I pay tribute to the many dead -
to those who have gone to the call of Hinenuitepo, to the long night.
We have mourned them. Greetings again to us all.

Conclusion

The traditional proverb, A renowned warrior's strength and courage is like a rock that stands in raging waters, most certainly applies to Manahi. Everyone gathered here, greetings to us all.


Ends

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