Scholarships exemplify bravery, leadership and Māori excellence

The Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board with the 2023/2024 scholarship and award recipients in front of C Company Memorial House.

The Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards pay homage to Victoria Cross winner, Second Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu, and the brave men of the 28th (Māori) Battalion who served on the battlefields of Greece, Crete, North Africa, and Italy between 1941 and 1945.

The Awards Ceremony is an annual event that recognises the recipients of the doctoral, masters, undergraduate, and vocational education and training scholarships, as well as the winners of the Ngarimu Video Competition. This year, the recipient of the 2024 Manakura Award was also celebrated.

“Each and every one of the recipients exemplify commitment, determination, and leadership, just as the valiant men of the 28th (Māori) Battalion did,” said Minister of Education Hon Erica Stanford.

“The recipients are a true testament to the essence of these special awards and are an inspiration to us all.”

This is the third year the Awards Ceremony has been held outside of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington in an endeavour to connect with different communities and acknowledge the immense contributions made by the many men who served in the 28th (Māori) Battalion.

C Company Memorial House was chosen for this year’s Awards Ceremony in honour of the men of C Company, and for its affiliation to this year’s Manakura Award recipient.

Students and teachers from Gisborne Girls' High preparing to do a haka pōwhiri to welcome the Ngarimu Board, recipients and their friends and whānau to C Company Memorial House.

Embodying the values of the 28th (Māori) Battalion

This year, Minister Stanford announced Dr Monty Soutar ONZM (Ngāti Pōrou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, and Ngāti Kahungunu) as the recipient of the prestigious Manakura Award.

The Manakura Award is the highest accolade of the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards and is only presented every three years to an outstanding Māori leader.

Recipients of this prestigious award are chosen because of their contribution to their whānau, hapū, iwi, and wider community, and for embodying the values the men of the 28th (Māori) Battalion lived by.

Dr Soutar is renowned as New Zealand’s leading Māori military historian and has dedicated 15 years of his life to documenting the history of the 28th (Māori) Battalion in his award-winning book Nga Tama Toa: The Price of Citizenship which is hailed as New Zealand’s most definitive account of C Company’s role in World War 2.

In 2002, he was appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal and has previously worked as a teacher, soldier, university lecturer, museum director, and senior historian. In 2015, he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and historical research.

Minister Stanford describes Dr Soutar as someone who displays qualities of prestige, influence, mana, and leadership.

“Dr Soutar’s exceptional contributions to education, Māori history, and the 28th (Māori) Battalion define his legacy, which is being recognised with this prestigious award.”

Dr Monty Soutar (middle) holding his certificate for the 2024 Manakura Award and standing beside Education Minister Erica Stanford (left) and Willie Apiata VC (right).

Journey of learning and writing

When Dr Soutar describes his journey of learning – and later writing – about the stories of the 28th (Māori) Battalion, he begins in 1992 when he and his wife Tina were recently married, hapū with their first child and living in Manutūkē on the East Coast.

During this time, he received a visit from his cousin, Sir Selwyn Parata, and aunty Keita Walker, who asked him to put aside a few weeks to help pull together photographs of the 28th (Māori) Battalion.

“Tā Wira Gardiner was putting together a booklet for the 50th anniversary of the awarding of the Victoria Cross to Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu, and for the reunion of C Company in March the following year,” he says.

Dr Soutar was asked to visit the homes of veterans to take copies of the photographs that gave a glimpse into their time in active service. These photographs were to be included in Tā Wira Gardiner’s booklet.

“[When I was asked to help] I thought of my own family’s contribution to service overseas. I thought of my uncle, Second Lieutenant Sam Paniora, who never returned home from Italy, and of all the other men who made sacrifices during World War 2 – and how could I say no.”

With his wife by his side, Dr Soutar travelled the East Coast visiting the homes of the veterans of the 28th (Māori) Battalion.

While he was often busy capturing photographs, the veterans would regale his wife with stories of their time serving in the 28th (Māori) Battalion.

In the beginning, it was through his wife that Dr Soutar learned of the impressive stories that led to his journey of researching, and later writing about, the history of the famous Battalion.

Dr Soutar’s curiosity to learn more led him and a team of researchers on a six-year journey, collecting 300 hours of oral histories and about 3,000 photographs of the veterans of the 28th (Māori) Battalion; many of which are housed in C Company Memorial House.

It was this research that formed the basis for his award-winning book Nga Tama Toa: The Price of Citizenship – a detailed account of C Company’s contribution, and the sacrifices that were made in a bid for all Māori to achieve equality with their Pākehā counterparts in post-war Aotearoa New Zealand.

“My journey in life has been an attempt to share the stories of our people and to write the books that I never read but wanted to in school,” he says.

“I hope we hold on to the story of the 28th (Māori) Battalion, and that we remember the reason they went off to fight the enemy overseas, which was to fight for the right to equality for Māori people in this country.”

Understanding the scholarships and awards

While Dr Soutar was on his journey of recording stories and information about the 28th (Māori) Battalion, he learned the origins of the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship.

On 26 March 1943, Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu commanded a platoon in an attack on Point 209 in Tunisia, undeterred by intense gunfire and personally knocking out several enemy machine-gun posts.

Dr Monty Soutar giving his acceptance speech for the 2024 Manakura Award.

After capturing the crest, his men repelled a number of fierce German counterattacks during the night. Despite wounds to his shoulder and leg, Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu refused to leave his position.

He was killed the next morning fighting off another enemy attack. Twenty-one of his relatives had also fallen in the battle of Point 209, with many others left wounded.

“It was at least a week until anyone at home learned the news of their deaths, and on 4 June 1943 the citation written by Sir Charles Bennett describing the action that took place at Tebaga Gap became public and the world, too, learned why they were killed.”

Seven days later on 11 June 1943, the Prime Minister, Ministers of the Crown and members of parliament travelled to Hiruhārama Pa in Ruatōria to acknowledge the parents of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu.

Dr Soutar says that it was because of the loss they had suffered that a Mr A M Williams suggested an endowment fund be created in memory of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu.

“As you did with kaupapa in those days, you put your money where your mouth is and he [Mr A M Williams] laid down the first koha that ended up being what we are benefiting from today.”

The initial target for the endowment was £7,500 to be raised by 6 October, in time for the presentation of the Victoria Cross to the parents of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu at Whakarua Park in Ruatōria.

“Individuals from across the East Coast and eventually throughout the country fundraised £7,500 by 6 October, and the Government matched it dollar for dollar.”

The endowment raised through koha alone is the equivalent of over $NZ750,000 today.

In 1945, the Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund was established to commemorate Second Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu and Māori service in World War 2.

“This is how a lot of people, including myself, have benefited from this scholarship, and it is with this history you realise that the roots of it lay with the generation back in World War 2 who gave from their own pockets.” 

Find out the 2023/24 recipients:

Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship
(external link)

2023 Video Award competition winners
(external link)

Ngarimu VC and 28 (Māori) Battalion Learning Resource(external link)

Launch of the new Ngarimu waiata composition competition

The new Ngarimu Waiata Composition Competition was announced by Education Minister Erica Stanford, on behalf of the Ngarimu Board at this year’s Awards Ceremony.

The purpose of the competition is to honour the legacy of Victoria Cross winner Second Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu and members of the 28th (Māori) Battalion, while encouraging learners to express their knowledge and personal connections through waiata.

Waiata, mōteatea, haka, and poi have always been an intrinsic part of how Māori tell stories, share information, and remember loved ones.

Minister Stanford says the Ngarimu Waiata Composition Competition is a great way for ākonga to explore their creativity and increase their understanding of the contribution the 28th (Māori) Battalion soldiers, pouaru and community, made to whānau, hapū, iwi, and the shape of Aotearoa New Zealand.

The competition is open to ākonga Māori in Years 7–13, and entries can be submitted as an individual, a team, or a kura.

There are 2 prize categories: a te reo Māori stream, and an English/bilingual stream. Competitors are allowed to enter both categories and the winning ākonga and their kura will receive a cash prize.

The competition opened on Monday 8 April and will close Friday 26 July 2024.

New Ngarimu waiata competition open now – Ministry of Education(external link)

A special occasion for Gisborne Girls' High students.