E ārahi ana i te 28 Maori Battalion: Rūtene Kānara Frederick Baker

E mōhiotia ana he kaingarahu toa, taiea hoki, ka whakaarotia ko Rūtene Kānara Frederick Baker te tino tauira hōia – he tautōhito ki te whakatakoto rautaki, he “toihau whai take” he manawa tītī i ārahi i ana hōia i runga i te māiatanga me te mana, i muri mai ka kawe tonu i ana mahi ki te hāpai maimoatanga ōrite mō ngā hōia Māori.

I a ia i te Ope Māori puta noa, i whakaatu a Baker i tōna manawanui, i tōna manawa piharau hoki ki te arataki i ana hōia i runga i ōna whakaaro rautaki me tōna wairua kakama.

Nga Rā O Mua

I whānau mai a Rūtene Kānara Frederick Baker i Whauwhaukauri, wāhi ki Hokianga, i te 19 Hune 1908. He uri whakaheke no Ngāpuhi te māmā o Baker, a Jane Robinson, ko tōna pāpā a John Francis (Frank) Baker he kaimahi pāmu. I eke panuku ia i te kura, ā, i puta hoki te whakaaro he tino pai ia ki ngā mahi tākaro. He tino kaingākau ia ki te whutupōro, ka mutu i tākaro hoki ia mō Waikato me Te Waiariki. He mātanga kaikaute anō hoki a Baker, ka mutu nō te paunga o te tau 1931 ka tutuki i ā ia ana Whakamātautau Kaikaute Ngaio i Kirikiriroa. Ka mārenatia e Baker a Edna Mavis Currie, he kaituikākahu nō Kirikiriroa, i te 26 Tīhema 1933. I mārenatia rāua I te whare karakia Perehipitirana i Frankton, ka whanau mai e rua a rāua tamariki.

I te tau 1925 ka whakauru atu a Baker ki ngā Hōia Ā-Rohe, i tere anga whakamua ia i tana umanga, ka tohua hei haihana i te tau 1928 ā, uru noa hei rūtene i te marama o Hune 1931. I muri iho o tēnei ka uru a Baker ki te tira o ngā Mounted Rifles o te Tai Tokerau me Waikato. I te tau 1933 ka hūnuku a Baker ki Pōneke, ā, ka mahi hei āpiha tuarua. Ka kitea atu tōna kaha ki te mahi, ōna pūkenga hautūtanga ā, tae noa ki te marama o Noema 1930 ka tukuna ia ki te Ope Taua Māori 28 hei āpiha matataua.

A Kirihi me Crete

I riro ko Baker hei rangatira mō te Kamupene Taunaki Māori i Kirihi, i riro hoki nāna i whakahaere te whakawhitinga mai o te ope Māori mai i te UK ki Īhipa i te tau 1941. I whakamātautia te hautūtanga o Baker i te nui o ngā aitua o te Kamupene i muri iho o te whakangungu i a Kirihi mai i ngā Tiamana i Olympus Pass. I mauheretia a Baker erangi i taea e ia te māwhiti atu ki Crete, i reira ka whiwhi i a ia te tūranga āpiha rangatira tuarua i raro i a Meiha Dyer o Kamupene D nō tana hokinga ki te Ope Māori i Kirihi ka riro ko ia hei toihau mō Kamupene A (Te Ope Taua Māori 28, whārangi 224.). Ahakoa i tūākiri a Baker i te mura o te ahi, nāna tonu i ārahi ana hōia i a rātou ka maunu. I whakaatu tonu ia i tōna maiatanga me ōna pūkenga hautūtanga i roto i te ope tauā katahi ka whakatairangatia hei kānara taupua i te tau 1942.

Ka huritao a Baker i ngā kauhanga riri nei i roto i tētahi reta ki tōna huānga, e tuhi ana mō ngā hōia Māori mai i te tirohanga a tētahi kaimātakitaki. I wewehi iaki tō rātou kaha me tō rātou mau tūmārō me te kite i te māia o te hōia Māori i te pae o te riri, ka whakatūturu i a rātou he hunga hāneanea, he hunga whakamataku. I whakahīhī a Baker ki tana Ope Māori, ā, ka whakamōhio atu i ōna whakaaro ki ana hoa, me te kī,

Ka mihi au ki ngā wāhanga tuatoru katoa o te kamupene i runga i o rātou whakapau kaha, kei te whakahīhī hoki au ki te ope e ārahi nei au. Mēnā kei te whakaōritea ō mātou parekura ki ō te hoariri, mēnā kei te whakaaro mātou ki te meatanga ki runga i ngā mahere a te hoariri, kīhai i tua atu o te mōhio he kauhanga riri kei hea mai nei te angitūtanga. Me whakapāho te reta i runga ake nei ki ngā hōia katoa o te Ope Tauā.

Īhipa

He mea hoatu te kaiwhakahautanga o te ope taua ki ā ia i Īhipa, te wāhi i whakahaeretia ai e ia he tauira kauhanga riri. Ka ora ake ia i tōna taotūtanga, ka tohua hei toihau mō tētahi kamupene i roto i te Ope Taua 25. Ka whakaahu whakamua tere tonu a Baker i ngā tūnga ā, i te marama o Mei 1942 ka whakauru atu ia ki te Ope Taua Māori 28 hei āpiha rangatira tuarua ā, whakatairanga tonutia atu hei Meiha.

Ka haere tonu te ārahi a Baker i tana ope taua ki te pae o te riri i Īhipa, nō tōna whakatairanga ki te Rūtene Kānara taupua, ka whakahokia e ia te ope taua ki muri i te rārangi whawhai ki te whakatā rangitahi.

Te Pakanga o Arameina

I tū motuhake te ope taua o Baker nā runga i tōna manawanui me tōna manawa piharau. E whakatakoto ana tētahi tuhinga poto mai i te New Zealand Gazette i te 21 o Hepetema 1944 i ngā whakatutuki mīharo a Baker i Arameina. I te pakanga o Arameina i tū, mai i te 23 o Oketopa ki te 1/2 o Noema, te wā i taotū taimahatia ai ia ka kitea tōna whaitaketanga hei āpiha rangatira mō te ope taua ūpoko pakaru ki te riri. I roto i ngā tūāhua, i te wā e kaha ana te puhipuhi, ko tana tū māro, āhua hūro me tana kaha ngā tauira i hiki ai i ngā wairua o ana tāngata. I te huaki i Pt 29 i te 1 o Noema he wairua nui whakaharahara tana arataki i ana hōia i te huaki i whawhai kahatia, i te mutunga ka hāua ia ki ngā taotū kino whakaharahara. Puta noa, i tauiratia e ia te ngaiotanga mārire me ngā pūkenga hoki.

I whakaaturia e Baker ōna whakaaro rautaki i te tūāmua o te pakanga o Arameina, ka āta whakatakatūtia e ia ana hōia mō te pakanga. Hāwhe haora mai i te tīmatanga o te whakaekenga ka taotū taimahatia ia. Te kaha mārire o ngā taotū ki tōna waha me tōna arero, “tata tonu ka pau i a ia te tau e whakamātūtū ana e pokaina ana kia taea anō e ia te korero.

I ngā marama e whā e hautū ana ia i ārahitia e ia te ope taua i roto i ngā tūāhua kauhanga riri i eke panukutia.” (Butterworth, 2000). He mea whakahōnore te hautūtanga āpiha rangatira o Baker mā tōna whakawhiwhinga ki te mētara Distinguished Service Order i te tau 1944. He mea hoatu te mētara nei hei whakahōnore i tōna hautoa.

Te Tauoranga I Muri Mai

I te mutunga o te pakanga ka manawanui a Baker ki ngā tūnga hautūtanga, ā, i te marama o Noema 1943 ka whakatūria ia hei ringatohu mō te Tari Whakamātūtūtanga. I tū anō ia i runga te Poari Whakamātūtūtanga i Pōneke. Ko tā te Poari Whakamātūtūtanga he whakatūturu kia whiwhi mahi tōtika me ngā whare tōtika ngā mōrehu hōia. Whai muri i tēnei ka hopukina e Baker te haepapa mō ētahi atu hōtaka Whakamātūtūtanga. He maha ngā hōia Māori i kainga e te hūngeingei i runga o tō rātou hāwinitia e ngā kaupapa here o te Pakanga Tuatahi, ā, i whakapae rātou kīhai rātou i āwhinatia pērā i ngā mōrehu hōia Pākehā ahakoa ngā kī taurangi a te Kawanatanga. Ka whakatūria e Baker he Komiti Pūtea Whakamātūtūtanga Māori ka kawea e ia te haepapa ki te whakatūturu kia rite tonu ngā ratonga mā ngā Māori. Nō te tau 1954 te marama o Āperira ka whakakorea te Tari Whakamātūtūtanga, heoi anō, ka whakatūria a Baker ki runga i te Kōmihana Ratonga Tūmatanui i te 15 o Hepetema 1954. Auē taukiri e, ka hinga a Baker i te mate manawa i te 1 o Hune 1958. Ka mahue mai tana hoa rangatira me ana tamariki e rua.

Ko Frederick Baker tētahi o ngā tini Māori i whakauru ki te Ope Taua Māori 28. Kia mōhio atu anō, ka taea tōna mauhanga Tuihono Maumaharatanga te titiro i konei.

Ngā Tūtoro

Butterworth, Graham, 'Baker, Frederick', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, (accessed 16 April 2017)

Cody, J.F (1956). 28 (Maori) Battalion. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs.

Gardiner, Wira (1992). Te Mura O Te Ahi: The Story of the Maori Battalion. Auckland, New Zealand: Reed Books.

Harper, Glyn and Hayward, Joel S (2003). Born to lead? : portraits of New Zealand commanders. Auckland New Zealand: Exisle Publishing.

McGibbon (Editor), Ian (2000). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press.

Soutar, Monty (2014). Ngā tama toa = he toto heke, he Tipare Here ki te ūkaipo : Kamupene C, Ope Taua (Maori) 28 1939-1945 : i tuhia tenei pukapua i roto i te reo Maori. Tamaki Makaurau, Aotearoa : David Bateman.

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