'We answer the call to arms' : war experience and its toll on the spirituality of the Maori soldier post-WWII

Abstract

Just as in Maori history. Maori taua was organised on the basis of kinship and locality, so did most Maori men join platoons in their own tribal companies for World War II (WWII). Maori has a warrior ancestry which could account for young men volunteering for service in the 28nd Maori Battalion. The 28nd Maori Battalion was an integral part of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2 NZEF). They fought in Greece, Crete, Egypt Libya, Tunisia and in Italy and were involved in some of the heaviest fighting throughout WWII, suffering a high toll of death and wounded including prisoners of war. The 2nd NZEF was regularly selected for impol1ant and dangerous assignments, which led to concerns by Charlie Company (C Coy) officers and Padres of the persistent use by the Divisional staff of the unit to support difficult tasks. They wrote letters to their families and to Sir Apirana Ngata stating this, and asking to be returned home. However, the Maori Battalion remained till the end of the war although a system of furlough was put in place allowing soldiers to return home. The Maori soldiers left home as innocent young men and fought under atrocious conditions. Many died and the survivors faced the loss of their comrades and were pushed to the limits of their endurance. They returned home battle-hardened and some, suffered from shellshock or war neurosis, or known by clinicians today as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Maori spiritual values provide a resource for the interpretation of the effects of war on the spirituality of Maori soldiers returning borne from WWII. Their mental or psychological health was interlinked with their physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing from which derived their attitudes and behaviour in their homes and in their communities. The Maori veterans experienced the violation of their mana and tapu during the war that left them in a state of noa. War also tested their faith and relationship with Atua. Themes from the Johannine passion account John 18: 1·21: 14 will be interpreted through the lens of these veterans 'war experience' and their return from WWII.