Māori Battalion, officially the 28th Battalion of the New Zealand Army, formed part of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War II (1939-1945).
Māori troops served with the Allies in the United Kingdom, Greece, Crete, northern Africa, and Italy, and gained a reputation for great bravery. One of the officers of the battalion, Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu, won the Victoria Cross, the United Kingdom’s highest military award, for his bravery in a battle at Jebel Tebaga, in northern Africa, in 1943. Shortly after World War II began in September 1939, Māori leaders asked the government to form a Māori infantry unit. The Māori Battalion was formed in 1940.
See also Crete, Battle of .
