Online Cenotaph holds the records for over 9,000 New Zealanders who became prisoners of war during World War II (WWII). The majority of these service personnel were captured in Southern Europe and North Africa in the first half of the War and were held in a network of prisoner of war (POW) camps.¹ In these camps, service personnel found themselves living in cramped and difficult conditions, unsure when, if ever, they would be able to return home.

While stories of New Zealand’s prisoners of war during WWII are plentiful, there has been little focus on the experiences of Māori POWs. These soldiers faced hardships in Nazi-occupied Europe and North Africa, yet they maintained their cultural identity through the display of Māoritanga – the essence of Māori culture. A definitive list of Māori POWs has yet to be created, despite the large numbers of Māori personnel captured. For example, the Austrian camp Stalag XVIII-A held 320 Māori personnel, making up almost half of the camp’s total New Zealand population.²  

In reviewing the numerous letters and reports shared by New Zealand prisoners of war, including the recently digitised New Zealand Prisoner of War Pamphlet, it becomes clear that activities such as sport, recreation, and song played an essential role in bridging cultural divides. These outlets allowed Māori and Pākehā prisoners alike to find common ground, using their shared love of rugby, music, and performances to maintain their identities and lift spirits in the face of adversity. As highlighted in the letters and first-hand accounts from the time, these moments of cultural expression helped forge strong bonds, uniting New Zealanders regardless of background, even when separated from their homeland.³

This Cenotaph Story highlights two Māori POWs whose stories provide unique insights into life both in the camps and upon their return home. Their experiences include significant displays of Māoritanga which broke through the mundanity and hopelessness of their time as prisoners and demonstrate the importance of their stories in New Zealand’s history.

Walter James Cooper

While serving in Greece with the 28th Māori Battalion, Wallie was captured at Kalamata, on the extreme tip of the Corinth Peninsula.⁸ He was posted missing on 3 June 1941 and the first word of his survival was a photograph he had forwarded from Stalag 306.⁹ During the 12 months of his imprisonment, Wallie led numerous sporting activities, including acting as chairman of the camp’s Kiwi Club which had a weekly muster of 80 or 90 personnel.¹⁰ In doing so, Wallie joined the expansive network of rugby players and fans across prisoner of war camps who used New Zealand’s favourite sporting pastime as a method to keep culture and pride alive.

Rugby games became a regular occurrence in the prison camps, with New Zealand personnel playing against both United Kingdom and Australian teams. Wallie spent the majority of his imprisonment in Stalag 383, which hosted their own Kiwi team captained by Colin McKenzie.¹¹ Wallie recalled that during their matches “the field was pretty hard” as it was clay which had been “baked in the summer and snow-covered in the winter.”¹² Despite these conditions, the Kiwis were undeterred and “the Germans did not pay very much attention to the Rugby enthusiasts” and Wallie believed they “considered us all quite mad, for they are soccer players.”¹³

Wallie’s experiences were echoed by other POWs across Europe and the Middle East, with other accounts corroborating that, “the standard of play in these camps is extremely high; above that of most senior Rugby in Auckland.”¹⁴ A Whanganui rugby representative, Eric Chamberlain, toured German prison camps in 1944 as the captain and selector of a rugby team comprised of POWs.¹⁵ Both these tours and the regular camp rugby games were essential lifelines for prisoners like Wallie who found themselves captured far from home, unsure when or if they would ever be able to participate in normal New Zealand life again. Rugby served as a symbol of national pride which fostered and maintained camaraderie while distracting prisoners from the daily monotony of the camps. In combination with other sporting events and social functions, these games provided New Zealand and international prisoners with a sense of optimism and a connection to both their home countries and the world beyond the camps.

Sport also worked to forge new connections amongst New Zealand personnel. Rugby was a shared interest of both Māori and Pākehā across the country, allowing personnel who likely had little interaction with each other in their civilian lives to bond over a common experience. In 1936 a little over 11% of Māori lived in urban areas, where most Pākehā were based, resulting in reduced exposure to Māori communities and Māoritanga.¹⁶ The familiarity of rugby made it the perfect means to find common ground, facilitating new bonds and allowing the New Zealand POWs serving alongside each other to grow a deeper understanding of their home country’s bi-cultural identity.

When World War II ended, Wallie’s passion for rugby continued and, in May 1945, he sent a cable message to his wife, Phyllis C. D. Cooper, to let her know that he was safe in England and would be taking the first boat home.¹⁷ Upon returning to New Zealand, Wallie declared that he intended to carry on playing rugby for “at least one more season,” and he had already been approached by clubs in his hometown of Whangarei.¹⁸ Wallie died on 7^th November, 1973 at age 62 and was buried with Phyllis at Maunu Cemetery, Cemetery Road, off State Highway 14 in Whangarei.

William Herewini

Second Lieutenant William (Bill) Herewini (4281), Ngāti Maniapoto kaumatua and Māori Battalion captain, was born in Oparure and worked in a Taranaki real estate office before his enlistment in 1939. Bill began his service in the Taranaki Company of the 19^th Battalion but soon joined the newly formed Māori Battalion which took him to England, the Middle East, and Greece. It was during his service in Greece that Bill, a Second Lieutenant in the Anti-Aircraft Platoon, was captured when the New Zealand Division was overrun by German troops.

In September 1941, Te Awamutu Courier reported that a letter had been received from Bill which included a statement of his condition and a list of other officers from the Māori Battalion who were also captured.¹⁹ Bill’s letter demonstrated a typical sense of Kiwi optimism as he stated he was, “quite well and enjoying the sun in this country.”²⁰ Bill confirmed that fellow Māori Battalion personnel Henry Ngata, George Bennett, and Jimmy Wiremu were with him and that he knew Harry Taituha was wounded and staying as a prisoner of war in a hospital in Salonika.²¹

Most of Bill’s imprisonment was spent at Oflag V-A in Weinsberg, Germany, a camp specifically for officers and provided in accordance with the requirements of the 1899 Hague Convention. International Red Cross reports on Oflag V-A stated a strict but satisfactory life for the prisoners kept there and in 1944 the camp was declared “a good one in a healthy situation and climate.”²² Upon arriving at the camp, Bill wrote in his letter to Te Awamutu Courier that he had “been sun-bathing, and believe me, I am very brown and feel as fit as a fiddle.”²³ An International Red Cross report in 1945 revealed that the library at Oflag V-A held 10,000 books and a workshop had been opened at the camp to train officers in book-binding, cabinet-making, watch-making and theatre decorating.²⁴

Despite the wide array of entertainment, Oflag V-A became most well-known for its camp performances, including a musical play entitled 'Waiata Maori [sic]' written by W. W. Mason and T. N. Carter in July 1944. The play features songs in Te Reo Māori about relationships, love, and capture. According to fellow prisoner Captain J. I. Moir, the play was produced to demonstrate to the prisoners from other nations the pride New Zealanders had in both their country and their Māori heritage.²⁵ This display of Māoritanga resonated with viewers, one of whom stated that he felt:

"enlightened on many details of Maori [sic] life, in particular on the points of religious life shown in the story of the omen; … on the honoured place of women in the community and the close association of work with honour; on the keen ancestral pride and the estimate of the worth of men on their qualities rather than wealth or gadgets".²⁶

Waiata Māori and other demonstrations of Māoritanga were not only a welcome distraction for prisoners but were also vital in building a sense of nationhood. These demonstrations of culture and pride created an identity for New Zealanders separate to the United Kingdom service personnel they were surrounded by. This was aided by the contributions of the Māori Battalion which had become a great source of pride for New Zealanders both at home and serving overseas. Just as rugby had forged connections between disparate New Zealand personnel, these performances created a space for cultural exchange that combined both entertainment and education.

After four years imprisonment, Bill returned home in 1945. Later that year, he joined the public service, a career which “would see him become one of the pioneers of the welfare services division of the Māori Affairs Department.”²⁷ Bill remained connected to his time in the forces, acting as president of the Porirua RSA for 13 years and becoming the second Māori ex-service person to receive the RSA gold star award. At Bill’s funeral, Ned Nathan, a long-time friend and past president of the Māori Battalion Association, said that with Bills passing, “a very valuable ambassador for New Zealand has been lost.”²⁸

Conclusion

The experiences of Wallie and Bill as POWs, and the moments of respite and connection they found under such strenuous conditions, stand as powerful testaments to their hope and endurance. Their stories highlight the profound importance of national pride and cultural identity among personnel held captive, far from the comforts of home. In the face of captivity, sport, song, and cultural expression became vital lifelines. These activities not only provided much-needed distraction but also played a crucial role in unifying New Zealand personnel. Demonstrations of Māoritanga—through rugby, music, and performances—fostered camaraderie and cultural exchange, helping both Māori and Pākehā soldiers find common ground. These acts of cultural pride not only strengthened the bonds between soldiers but also elevated the mana of all those involved, underscoring the enduring power of culture to inspire hope and resilience in the face of adversity.