Hundreds gathered in the West Coast town of Reefton yesterday to commemorate the 28th Maori battalion.
The ceremony marked the week that the battalion returned home to Wellington in 1946 from the WWll battlegrounds of Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy.
Ex-servicemen marched into the city centre for a powhiri hosted by local iwi and community leaders, who are working to keep their history alive.
Tony Groves of the Reefton RSA considered it an honour to welcome the local iwi Ngati Waiwai into their doors for the first time.
Although the few surviving servicemen from the battalion could not attend the ceremony, there were still special moments for their families to honour them.
"I feel very proud," said Greg Wood, whose father served as one of the 3,500 men to serve New Zealand over the course of the war.
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