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| Sergeant Haane Manahi | |
|---|---|
| Name | Haane Te Rauawa Manahi |
| Honorific prefix | Sergeant |
| Birth date | 28 April 1913 |
| Birth place | Gore, New Zealand |
| Death date | 28 May 1986 |
| Death place | Timaru |
| Allegiance | New Zealand |
| Branch | New Zealand Army |
| Serviceyears | 1940–1946 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | 2nd New Zealand Division · 28th (Māori) Battalion |
| Battles | World War II · Western Desert Campaign · Battle of El Alamein · Tunisian campaign · Battle of Takrouna · Italian Campaign (World War II) |
| Awards | Distinguished Conduct Medal · Mentioned in Despatches |
Sergeant Haane Manahi was a New Zealand soldier of Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Porou descent who served with the 28th (Māori) Battalion during World War II. Celebrated for leadership at the Battle of Takrouna in 1943, he became the focus of a prolonged debate over recognition involving the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the Victoria Cross, and officials in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. His wartime service and postwar life intersect with networks including the 2nd New Zealand Division, commanders such as Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg and Harold Barrowclough, and communities in Southland and the South Island.
Haane Te Rauawa Manahi was born in Gore, New Zealand into iwi affiliations including Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Porou and was raised in a rural Southland setting near Mataura. His upbringing involved participation in Māori culture activities, connections to marae and whānau networks, and labour on farms tied to regional centres such as Invercargill, Dunedin, and Timaru. He lived through the interwar years shaped by national issues involving Michael Joseph Savage’s era and societal responses to the Great Depression in New Zealand. Manahi’s identity aligned with Māori military traditions visible in the histories of the New Zealand Wars and figures like Te Rauparaha and local leaders who influenced Māori enlistment patterns.
Manahi enlisted in the New Zealand Army as part of broader Māori recruitment for the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force under the command structure that included generals like Bernard Freyberg and divisional commanders involved in the Middle East theatre. He joined the 28th (Māori) Battalion, a unit with cultural practices such as the haka and led by officers who included both Māori and Pākehā leaders interacting with formations from British Army and Commonwealth forces. Training took place in staging areas and camps linked to emplacements used by the New Zealand Division, coordinated with logistical hubs like Alexandria, Egypt and supply lines passing through Suez Canal territory. Manahi’s early deployments brought him into the Western Desert Campaign and actions during the Battle of El Alamein alongside allied formations including Eighth Army (United Kingdom) and units from Australia, South Africa, and India (British Indian Army).
During the Tunisian campaign Manahi led a section in the 28th (Māori) Battalion in operations against Axis positions at Takrouna in April 1943. He conducted assaults on fortified posts and led men through anti-personnel obstacles, machine-gun nests and trench systems held by units of the Italian Army and Wehrmacht elements cooperating with formations such as the Panzer Army Africa remnants. Accounts of the engagement compare Manahi’s action to other small-unit exploits in the campaign, referencing tactical contexts like close-quarters combat, use of Bren guns and mortars common to Commonwealth infantry tactics, and coordination with neighbouring battalions in the 2nd New Zealand Division. His leadership facilitated seizure of key positions on the rocky heights above Takrouna, contributing to the wider offensive that linked with operations in Medjez el Bab and assisted the Sicily campaign planning. Field reports circulated among commanders including Harold Barrowclough and influenced award recommendations forwarded through the chain to headquarters in Cairo and London.
Following Takrouna, Manahi received the Distinguished Conduct Medal and a Mention in Despatches citation; contemporary dispatches discussed recommendations for a Victoria Cross nomination by battalion officers and supported by some brigade and divisional commanders. The controversy involved deliberations within the British Honours System, the New Zealand Honours Committee, and figures such as George VI as monarch with oversight of imperial awards. Debates involved correspondence between officials in Wellington and Whitehall, and public campaigns led by veterans' groups, including branches of the RSA (Returned Services' Association) and Māori leaders who petitioned ministers like Peter Fraser and later prime ministers such as Sidney Holland and Keith Holyoake. In 2007 the New Zealand Government offered a special commendation—an unprecedented recognition debated among historians, legal scholars, and military commentators citing precedents like posthumous awards and retrospective reviews seen in cases involving the Battle of the Somme and other notable VC reconsiderations.
After demobilisation Manahi returned to civilian life in South Canterbury and worked in local industries, maintaining ties with iwi, participating in Returned Services’ activities, and engaging with civic institutions in towns such as Temuka and Timaru. His life intersected with broader Māori veteran experiences, land issues addressed by bodies like the Native Land Court legacy and cultural revival movements that involved leaders like Apirana Ngata and later activists. Manahi’s story featured in memoirs by veterans and histories authored by scholars at institutions including Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Otago, and was discussed in media outlets such as the New Zealand Herald, Otago Daily Times, and documentary projects. His narrative contributed to debates about recognition of Māori soldiers alongside figures like Pāora Kīngi and contemporaries from the 28th (Māori) Battalion.
Manahi is commemorated on memorials associated with the 28th (Māori) Battalion at sites including battalion museums, regional cenotaphs in Gore, Invercargill, and Timaru, and at national commemorations on Anzac Day alongside plaques listing names of servicemen. Exhibitions at institutions like the National Army Museum (New Zealand) and local marae hold artefacts related to his service, while scholarly works and television programmes have produced biographies and episode features preserved in archives at Archives New Zealand and the Alexander Turnbull Library. His legacy is reflected in ongoing discourse about honours reform and Māori service recognition in New Zealand military history.
Category:New Zealand military personnel