Iharaira Puketapu

Forenames

Iharaira AWMM

Surname

Puketapu AWMM

Also known as

Ihakaira AWMM

Service number

25992 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe

Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM

Date of birth

b. 1909

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 1 August 2023 - https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/ihakaira-puketapu

Place of birth

Te Araroa

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 1 August 2023 - https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/ihakaira-puketapu

Birth notes

Son of Puaha and Mere Puketapu, of Te Araroa

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 1 August 2023 - https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/ihakaira-puketapu

Address before enlistment

Unknown AWMM Te Araroa, New Zealand AWMM

Next of kin

Mrs Mere Puketapu (mother), Te Araroa, New Zealand AWMM

Relationship status

Unknown AWMM Single AWMM

War

World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

25992 AWMM

Enlistment

WW2 Labourer/Civilian AWMM

Embarkation details

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

Medical notes

Killed on Active Service, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

Private AWMM
28 (Maori) Battalion, C Company AWMM

Name appears as Iharaira in Nominal Rolls, as Ihakaira in Commonwealth War Graves AWMM

Death

15 Dec 1941 AWMM
Age  32 AWMM

Cause of death

Killed on Active Service AWMM

Cemetery

Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma, Libya AWMM 6. C. 17 AWMM

Obituary

Advice has been received by their next of kin that Privates I. Puketapu, R. Ngatoro, C. Fo.x and G Hooper have been killed in action in the Libyan campaign. Privates Puketapu, Ngatoro, and Fox went away with the Maori Battalion and all escaped from Greece and Crete

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 1 August 2023 - TE ARAROA NEWS
GISBORNE HERALD, VOLUME LXIX, ISSUE 20655, 5 JANUARY 1942, PAGE 3

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/2382929
  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. 3 (Embarkations from 1st July, 1940 to 31st March, 1941). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
  WW2 3: WW2 388
• 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)