On the 3rd of September 1939 New Zealand declared war with Germany, It was acting prime minister Peter Fraser that confirmed New Zealand was at war, this was what he said:
This is not an occasion for many words; it is a dark day in the history of the world … It is with deep regret and sadness that I make this announcement on behalf of the Government, and the people will receive it with similar feelings. That will not, however, affect the determination of both Government and people to play their part.
Peter Fraser was the 24th prime minister of NZ and was part of the labour party.
On October 1939 Sir Apirana Ngata and other Maori MP's called for an all maori unit.
On the 28th of October 1939 the Government agreed to form the 28th (Maori) Battalion.
On the 2nd of May 1940 after 3 months of training 681 men from the Maori battalion sailed from wellington with the 2nd echelon of 2NZEF, onboard on the luxury liner Aquitania.
Hi Caleb!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with your two events from the war, I think you have picked events that are really key from the war period.
I liked that you picked the day that New Zealand officially declared war on Germany, what a huge decision for the Prime Minister to make! What do you think?
I feel as though there was a lot that would have led up to this decision but it must have been really difficult to ask your own people to be involved in a war.
I also like that you have talked about the Maori Battalion! I haven't seen anyone mention them yet and I have heard amazing stories about how brave they were. I think that their unit developed a really great reputation and were well respected.
If you are interested in hearing more about them here is a link to a website: https://28maoribattalion.org.nz/
I think a lot of the information, stories and resources were provided by families and friends of the battalion which is pretty cool!
Great job Caleb, you are pumping through these last activities!
Ellee :)