Last commissioned officer of 28th M¯aori Battalion dies aged 96
The last surviving commissioned officer of the Ma¯ ori Battalion has died.
Alfred ‘‘Bunty’’ Preece, died at home in the Chatham Islands on Friday, his biographer Tom O’Connor said. He was 96.
The funeral was held on the Chatham Islands yesterday. He was the last surviving officer of the
28th (Ma¯ ori) Battalion. Preece joined the battalion in
1943 at the end of the North African Campaign and fought through the Italian Campaign until the end of the war, O’Connor said.
‘‘He was twice wounded, promoted to captain and mentioned in dispatches (mid) for his gallantry in action against German infantry. He also served in J Force, the allied occupational forces in Japan after the war.’’
Preece was a ‘‘quiet but determined man’’ and after the war served as chairman of the former Chatham Islands County Council.
Preece would express his dissapointment at the attitude of many New Zealanders, and successive governments following the war.
‘‘Most of us had nothing and got nothing,’’ O’Connor quoted Preece saying.
‘‘We went home to an old house. Some went back to the bush to start again and you lost those war years from your life and nobody wanted to know you or what you had been through.’’
Of the war, he said: ‘‘The experience broadened my horizons and equipped me with knowledge I would never have had other than by going to war.
‘‘It showed me other lands and people living in poverty and taught me how to live with all classes of people to help and support one another.
‘‘I also saw the worst side of life, destruction and death. I pray that my children and grandchildren never have to experience the horror and hell of war. We fought hard and suffered for so little when we got back.’’
Preece and a few South Islanders were sprinkled among regionally based North Island companies. Preece served in D Company, among men from Taranaki.
A volunteer, he earned promotion from private to corporal and to sergeant.
He was commissioned in the field and promoted to lieutenant. He was an officer at 24.
In 2012, then aged 92, he travelled to Christchurch for the launch of O’Connor’s biography on him, Soldier of the 28 (Maori) Battalion.
‘‘We were proud of what we were and of what we were doing. We respected our officers,’’ Preece said. ‘‘We all competed. Our aim was to go from private to officer. My dream was to command a company.’’