Darkie Leach

Forenames

Darkie AWMM

Surname

Leach AWMM

Service number

39160 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe

Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM

Birth

1919 Public Source

Date of birth

1919

Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 30 December 2015 - Research

Birth notes

Son of Hoki and Matengahere Leach, of Whangara

Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 30 December 2015 - Research

Address before enlistment

Unknown AWMM Whangara, Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM

Next of kin

Mr H. Leach (father), Whangara, Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM

Relationship status

Unknown AWMM Single AWMM

War

World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

39160 AWMM

Enlistment

WW2 Labourer/Civilian AWMM

Embarkation details

WW2 Private AWMM 28 (Maori) Battalion, C Company AWMM Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Second Echelon AWMM

Medical notes

Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

Private AWMM
28 (Maori) Battalion, C Company AWMM

Darkie Leach was the son of Hoki and Matengahere Leach, of Whangara, Auckland, New Zealand. AWMM

Death

23 May 1941 AWMM
Age  22 AWMM

Cause of death

Killed in Action AWMM

Cemetery

Suda Bay War Cemetery, Crete, Greece AWMM 12. E. 11. AWMM

Obituary

Leach—Private D, killed in action in the Crete Campaign.
We think of him in silence,
We often speak his name.
What would we give to see him Smile those smiles again.
—Inserted by his sisters, sisters-in-law, brothers and brothers-in-law.
Leach.—Private D„ killed in the Crete Campaign.
It’s just a year ago to-day
You heard the battle-cry
Through swarming planes and bursting flames,
You heard the call of God on high.
—lnserted by his lonely father, H. Leach.

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 19 July 2023 - ROLL OF HONOUR
GISBORNE HERALD, VOLUME LXIX, ISSUE 20772, 23 MAY 1942, PAGE 1

Memorial name

• Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories AWMM
• Gisborne First World War Memorial, The Esplanade, Kaiti, Gisborne AWMM

Related objects

External links

• 28th Maori Battalion Website 1941-1945
  http://www.28maoribattalion.org.nz/
  Further Reference
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
  https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/936855
  Sources Used
• Cody, J. (1956). 28 (Maori) Battalion. Wellington: Dept. of Internal Affairs, War History Branch. Digital copy.
  https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20210104000423/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Maor.html
  Further Reference

References

• Auckland Museum. Roll of Honour, Auckland Province, 1939 - 1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 93/139.
• Cody, J. (1956). 28 (Maori) Battalion. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
• Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 2 (Embarkations to 30th June, 1940). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
  WW2 2: WW2 108
• Soutar, M. (2008). Nga tama toa = The price of citizenship : C Company 28 (Maori) Battalion 1939-1945. Albany, N.Z.: David Bateman.
  Portrait published in Soutar (2008)
• McClymont, W. (1959). To Greece. Wellington, N.Z.: Department Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
• Davin, D. (1953). Crete. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.