The Waitangi Treaty Grounds were graced by a New Zealand Defence Force legend at today’s Anzac service, with 98-year-old Sir Robert “Bom” Gillies, the last surviving member of the 98th Māori battalion, making the trip to honour his friends.
Gillies travelled from Rotorua to Waitangi so that he could present the organisers and nation with the flag of his old unit.
Organisers were incredibly grateful to have Gillies present at the ceremony, given he is the last connection many generations have to the brave Māori servicemen who fought in World War Two.
“Me personally, he is like my dad,” Waitangi National Trust Chair Pita Tipene told 1News.
“He was in the 28th Māori Battalion, and he never spoke to me about any of his war experiences.
“For me in 2023, to be able to talk to the last surviving veteran about some of those experiences is very sad but great.”
Gillies fought in North Africa and Italy during the war, serving with the battalion until the end of the war, despite being wounded.
In 2019 he was appointed a Cavaliere (Knight) of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, accepting it on behalf of the entire battalion.
Then, last year he was knighted in New Zealand, having previously declined the honour - saying some of his comrades deserved it over him.
At the Treaty grounds itself, a field of remembrance had been set up with 569 crosses, each with the name of a Māori soldier who never made it home.
Several hundred people tuned up at the Waitangi memorial, which was the first to allow the public to honour the Māori troops, who sacrificed everything.
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