Māori Battalion
Where can I find information about the Māori Battalion?
(Years 7-10)
Image: Massey and Ward inspecting Pioneer Maori Battalion Soldiers by Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga on DigitalNZ.
Entry last updated: 10/07/25
Introduction
Although there was a Māori contingent in the First World War, the 28th Māori Battalion was only established in October 1939. Part of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, the battalion fought many battles during the Second World War, such as the battles at Crete and North Africa.
General Websites
These New Zealand websites are the best place to look for information on the Māori Battalion. They cover the formation, history, battles fought, Māori war heroes and other important aspects, including current news updates on this topic.
Launched in 2009 by the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage this site is a record of honour and information about the Māori Battalion's contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand in World War One and World War Two. The site has heaps of tabs for you to explore. You can read this site in English or te reo Māori.
Story of the 28th details the history of the Battalion.
Battalion Roll has records of Māori soldiers who fought in both the World Wars.
Check out the Media Library to view images of Māori war heroes, listen to audio, or watch a video on the Ceremony to honour Ngārimu's VC.
Use the Resources tab to find other important websites with information on the 28th Māori Battalion.
Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About this site on the website. It will tell you how and why this site was developed.
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we look down to the bottom of the page, we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.
Search for the keywords 'Māori Battalion'.
Select The 28th (Māori) Battalion.
This page covers the formation of the 28th Māori Battalion and their service in World War Two.
From the contents, you can choose other articles to find out about Māori involvement in other overseas wars.
Or go back to your search results and choose Biographies (DNZB) for biographies of soldiers of the Māori Battalion.
Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have either .govt or .ac, meaning they are from government or educational organisations. They’re also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.
NZ History is a another great website for information about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we go all the way down the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.
Use the search words 'Māori Battalion' to find articles Māori (Pioneer) Battalion returns from war about Māori in the First World War and the Māori (Pioneer) Battalion flag.
You could also visit the section called New Zealand at War, then look under Second World War to find Māori and the Second World War.
Use the list under Contents as a guide to read articles about the formation and achievements of the 28th Māori Battalion.
Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, e.g 'Māori Battalion'. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.
Auckland War Memorial Museum - Online Cenotaph
Located in Auckland, this war museum tells the war stories of New Zealand. It has excellent Māori and Pacific collections. This section of the website has records and stories of those who served Aotearoa New Zealand.
Use Find a person to search for decorated Māori war heroes such Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu and Haane Manahi.
Or from the Online Cenotaph menu choose Cenotaph Stories.
Under View by topic, select Māori.
Look for stories from World War Two such as Te Rangiataahua Kiniwe Royal and Leading the 28 Māori Battalion: Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Baker.
Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.
DigitalNZ is a search site that focuses on New Zealand history and brings together results from lots of different websites. It’s an easy way of searching online resources from New Zealand libraries, museums, universities and government sites all at once, and has lots of primary sources.
Search words such as 'Māori Battalion' will bring up images videos, newspapers and articles on this topic.
This website is a great source of primary sources.
Select the tab called More and then go to Articles for current news reports on the Battalion.
Tips: DigitalNZ has various search options for you to try out to make your searching more targeted and useful.
Managed by The Digital Media Trust, NZ On Screen has free-to-view videos and films on society, politics, culture and history of New Zealand.
Use the search box to enter '28th Māori Battalion'.
Videos worth watching are Māori Battalion - March To Victory, the story of the Māori Battalion and Tama Tū about Six Māori Battalion soldiers camped in the Italian ruins during WW2.
Te Puni Kōkiri advises on Government-Māori relationships and on policies and legislation affecting Māori wellbeing. This site has interesting stories and articles about the Māori Battalion.
Use the keywords 'Māori Battalion' to find stories on the Māori Battalion and the Māori Battalion National Association.
Tips: Try using a variety of search words to find information on your topic.
Funded by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is New Zealand’s audio-visual archive. Their collection includes film and television, radio and sound recordings, props, posters and more from over 120 years of New Zealand’s history.
Use the search box to enter 'Māori Battalion', then select the View or listen online now filter.
Watch the video Movietone News A0499: [Māori soldiers on wharf singing "Māori Battalion"] and listen to the audio 28 Māori Battalion.
Books
There have been many books written about the Māori Battalion. Check out your local public or school library to see what they have.
Some recommended titles are:
28 (Māori) Battalion by J F Cody, New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs
Ake ake kia kaha e! = forever brave! : B Company 28 (Māori) Battalion 1939-1945 by Wira Gardiner
Victory at Point 209 by Andrew Burdan, Kawata Teepa, New Zealand. Ministry of Education
Ngā tama toa = The price of citizenship: C Company 28 (Māori) Battalion 1939-1945 by Monty Soutar, Ngā Taonga ā Ngā Tama Toa Trust., New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. History Group
Awatere: a soldier's story by Arapeta Awatere, Hinemoa Ruataupare. Awatere.
SCIS no: 1908755
Topics covered
Related content
Māori leaders and heroes
Where can I find information about Māori leaders and heroes?
Māori history
Where can I find information about Māori history?
World War Two (battles and campaigns)
What were the main battles or campaigns of World War Two that New Zealanders were involved in?
WW2 (primary sources)
Where can I find primary sources for World War Two?
World War Two
Where can I find information about World War Two?