The English article is below te reo Māori version.
He kokona i te rūma noho o te kāinga o Robin Anderson i Tāneatua, i te rāwhiti o Te Moana a Toi, ko te pātū, he wāhi motuhake mō ētahi whakaahua kua whakarākeihia ki te popi whero.
Kei waenganui tonu ko te whakaahua horotea o tētahi taitama e menemene ana, kua kākahuria ki ngā kaka kākī o te hōia o Aotearoa i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao. Kei runga i tōna māhunga, ko te pōtae o te kauhanga riri — e karangatia ana ko te pōtae tītaha — hei kākahu kē atu i te pōtae “kōtētē rēmana” ōkawa rawa i kuhuna ai e ngā hōia o taua wā.
Ko te pāpā o Anderson kei taua whakaahua, he hōia Māori nō Te Teko i pakanga mā Te Rōpū Māori 28, Kamupene B, i Itāria, tatū atu ki Kahino i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao i te tau 1945.
“Ko te ingoa o tōku pāpā, ko Sinclair Valentine Riini,” te whakatau a Anderson. “Ko tēnei te kōrero a tōku pāpā.”
“Kōrero ai tōku pāpā, kei te mahue i konei — te hau kāinga,” tana maharatanga ake. “Ko ōna hoa o Te Teko i haere, ā, ko tana hiahia, ko te haere ki te taha o ōna hoa.”
I whakaāetia a Riini ki Te Ope Kātua ahakoa 16 noa iho ōna tau, i te rarata o ngā āpiha ki tōna hanga tāroaroa, ki tana āhua pakeke hoki. Ka tae ki te wā kia haere ia ki te pakanga, kua kaha kē ia ki ngā mahi nui o ia rā i Te Teko — he miraka kau, he mahi taiapa, he whakawātea whenua.
Ngā Maharatanga o Ngā Hoa Hōia
I waenga i te hunga i mahi hōia me Riini, ko Tā Rāpata Nairn Gillies nō Rotorua - e mōhiotia whānuitia ana, ko Koro Bom — te mōrehu whakamutunga rawa o ngā mōrehu hōia o Te Rōpū Māori 28, i tohua hei Tā i te tau 2022, ka mate i te Noema 2024, e 99 ōna tau.
Arā ētahi kōrero i puta i a Tā Rāpata ki a Anderson mō te pakanga, mō ngā taumahatanga o te tū māia. I raro i te maru o te pō, i te haumarutanga hoki o ngā awarua, nā Riini i ārahi ngā mahi kimi i te hunga whara i ngā kauhanga riri o Itāria — ka toia ngā tūroro ki uta. Ko ētahi, he kore waewae.
I auau tana puta ki te kimi tūroro — 14 ngā wā, e ai ki a Koro Bom.
Te Hokinga Mai
Ko ētahi pea e mea ana, ko te momo mātātoa o Riini kāre e tino whakanuia ana i ngā metara kua tohua ki a ia — ahakoa he taonga katoa tonu ērā e āta tiakina ana e tana whānau: ko Te Whetū 1939–1945, Te Whetū o Itāria, Te Mētara Pakanga 1939–1945, ko Te Mētara Mahi Pakanga o Aotearoa anō hoki.
Ka mutu, i rite ki te huhua o ngā ika a Whiro, kāre te pakanga i mutu i tana hokinga mai ki te kāinga.
“Ahakoa mutu te pakanga i reira, i tāwāhi — i tana hokinga mai, ka kite te whānau, he pakanga haere,” te kī a Anderson.
He kōrero tēnei e hāngai tūturu atu ana ki te maha o ngā hoia Māori o Te Rōpū Māori 28, ko ā rātou mahi toa i tāwāhi te mutunga kē mai o te autaia, engari i te hokinga mai ki te kāinga, i rongo tonu i te mana rite kore, i te wehewehenga.
Ki a Riini, i tino rongo i te ngau o tērā āhuatanga.
“Ki a ia, ōna whakaaro, he moumou wā te pakanga,” te kōrero a tāna tama. “Kāre ngā ture i panoni ki a rātou i hoki mai, ki a mātou te iwi Māori.”
“Ētahi o ngā toa, kāre i whakaae kia kuhu atu te Māori ki roto ki te hoko kai, ki te hoko aha rānei.”
I tino pouri hoki ia ki ngā hē o te kaupapa toha whenua i muri i te pakanga, i riro anō ai ngā whenua Māori hei tohatoha ki ngā hōia i hoki mai. Ahakoa tā rātou whawhai mō te whenua te take, kāre ngā ika a Whiro Māori i whai mana taurite ki ngā hoa hōia pākeha, ā, ko ngā mamaetanga tuku iho i hahaua tonutia.
Te Kāinga me Te Ahunga Whakamua
Ko Kōkōhīnau Marae, i Te Teko kei te whatumanawa o tēnei pūrongo. Koia te pā kāinga o Te Pahipoto - hapū o tōna pāpā. Koia te wāhi i wehe ai tōna pāpā ki te hopuni tauā i Te Papaioea.
I tētahi toronga ki te rua o tōna pāpā i te urupā o te marae i ngā rangi tata nei, ka mau i a Robin ki ōna ake mētara mō āna mahi riri kore i Āhia, me tētahi pine ā-koti o te kara o Te Whakaminenga o ngā Hapū o Nu Tīreni, e whakanui ana i te waitohutanga o He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tīreni i te tau 1835.
He pine e whai take hōhonu ana. Ko te rangatiratanga, ko te māramatanga me te pono e ihutūngia tonutia ana, e ihutūngia tonutia ana.
“Kāre mātou e wareware,” te oati anō a Anderson ki tōna pāpā.
He Poroporoaki Whakamutunga
I te matenga o Riini Anderson i tōna tau 64, ko te hiranga o āna mahi hōia i whakanuia ki te taumata i tino whai tikanga ai ki tōna iwi.
E mahara ana tāna tama, “ka kī kē te marae ātea i te 28, nā rātou a Pāpā i heri ki te urupā.”
Ko te kōhatu whakamaharatanga mō Riini, he tohu māhaki tonu. E whakaaria ana tōna ingoa ki te taha o te ingoa o tōna wahine, o Huhana i mate i mua i a ia. Kua whakairohia hoki he parau tawhito — he tohu o tōna ao — engari karekau he tuhinga mō āna mahi hōia. Karekau he tohu o te 28, karekau tana nama hōia — karekau.
He kōrero pono anō e takoto mai ana i tērā: he nui ngā hōia Māori i hoki mai i ngā pakanga, kāre i tika te manaakitia.
I ia tau, ka hoki te iwi ki Kōkōhīnau — ka tū ngātahi, ki te whakamaumahara, ki te whakanui i ngā hōia i haere ki te pakanga. Ka tū anō te rangatū ā-tau o Te Teko mō te rā Anzac ki korā hei tēnei Rāhoroi, whai muri i te karakia o te atatū i te RSL.
Ko Robin Anderson, tama nā Riini, tētahi ka tae atu.
There’s a corner in the living room of Robin Anderson’s home in the Eastern Bay of Plenty township of Tāneatua where the wall is reserved especially for photographs adorned with red poppies.
At the centre hangs the colour-faded image of a smiling young man dressed in the khaki uniform of a New Zealand World War Two soldier. Sitting neatly on his head is a field service cap — otherwise called a side cap — an alternative to the more formal “lemon squeezer” hat worn by soldiers of the time.
The picture is of Anderson’s father, who at the time was a Māori soldier from Te Teko and went on to serve with the 28th Māori Battalion, Company B, in Italy, including at Cassino during World War Two in 1945.
“My father’s name is Sinclair Valentine Riini,” declares Anderson.
“This is my father’s story.
“My father spoke about leaving home,” he recalls. “His friends from Te Teko went, and he wanted to stand alongside them.”
Riini was accepted by the Army at just 16, his tall frame convincing officials he was older. By the time he eventually left for service, he had already lived a life of hard work in Te Teko — milking cows, fencing, and preparing land.
Remembered Through Comrades
Among those who served alongside Riini was Sir Robert Gillies of Rotorua — known to many as Koro Bom — the last surviving and widely celebrated veteran of the 28th Māori Battalion, who was knighted in 2022 and passed away in November 2024, aged 99.
Stories shared by Sir Robert to Anderson speak of a war that demanded more than courage. Under the cover of night, and using roadside drains for protection, Riini would lead the retrieval of wounded soldiers from the battlefields of Italy — dragging broken bodies back to safety.
Many had lost limbs.
He returned to find more — 14 times, according to Koro Bom.
The Aftermath
Some may say the kind of bravery Riini displayed is not fully recognised in the medals he was awarded — despite them being treasured and carefully kept by his whānau: the 1939–1945 Star, the Italy Star, the War Medal 1939–1945, and the New Zealand War Service Medal.
Like many veterans, the war did not end when he came home.
“Even though the war ended overseas, when he returned home, the family saw that the war continued within him,” Anderson says.
His story reflects a broader truth for many Māori soldiers of the 28th Māori Battalion, whose service overseas was marked by extraordinary bravery, but whose return home was often met with inequality and exclusion.
For Riini, that reality was deeply felt.
“He believed the war had been a waste of time,” his son says.
“The laws hadn’t changed for Māori.
“Some stores would still refuse entry to Māori wanting to buy food or anything at all.”
He was also deeply dissatisfied with the inequities of the post-war land ballot scheme, where land was taken from Māori communities for redistribution to returned servicemen.
Despite fighting for their country, Māori veterans were denied equal treatment alongside their Pākehā comrades, and the historical injustices they had long endured continued.
Home and Legacy
Kōkōhīnau Marae sits at the heart of this story. It is the home of Te Pahipoto — his father’s people. It is the place his father left from before attending training camp in Palmerston North, and the place he eventually returned to.
On a recent visit to his father’s graveside at the marae cemetery, Robin wears his own medals for non-operational service in Asia, alongside a small lapel pin bearing the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, which honours the signing of the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand in 1835.
The symbol is deliberate. One of rangatiratanga, understanding, and truths that continue to be ignored.
“We will never forget,” Anderson promises his father.
A Final Farewell
When Riini passed at the age of 64, the legacy of his service was honoured in a way that mattered most to his people. His son recalls how members of the 28th Māori Battalion filled the marae ātea and carried him to his final resting place.
Riini’s headstone is a humble one. It bears his name alongside that of his late wife, Huhana, his whānau, and a carved image of a plough — a symbol of the life he lived — but there is no record of his military service. No insignia of the 28th, no service number — nothing.
Therein lies another truth: that many Māori servicemen returned from war without the full recognition their service deserved.
Each year, the people return to Kōkōhīnau — to stand together, to remember, and to honour those who served. The annual Te Teko Anzac Day parade will be held there again this Saturday, following the dawn service at the local RSL.
Robin Anderson, son of Riini, will be there.
