Haane Manahi

On 27 March 1941, Manahi's battalion, having spent two months in Egypt, arrived in Greece to assist in its defence against an anticipated German invasion.[11] Subordinate to the 5th Infantry Brigade,[12] it initially took up defensive positions around Olympus Pass, and in the days following the beginning of the invasion on 6 April, rebuffed initial contact by the advancing Germans. The battalion had to withdraw as the flanks of the Allied positions were threatened. B Company was the last of the battalion's units to abandon its positions, and together with the rest of the Allies, withdrew over the following days to Porto Rafti, where it boarded a transport ship for the island of Crete.[13]

On Crete, the Allies dug in for the expected airborne attack by German paratroopers. The Māori Battalion was positioned near the town of Platanias, as a reserve for the 5th Infantry Brigade, which was tasked with the defence of Maleme Airfield.[14] On 20 May, the Germans commenced their invasion of the island. Manahi was returning to his trench, having just had breakfast, as planes flew overhead, discharging paratroopers.[15] On 23 May, following the loss of the airfield to the Germans, he received a gunshot wound to the chest.[16] Despite this wound, he remained with his company as it was forced to withdraw to the south-west in the following days and was eventually evacuated from Crete on 31 May and transported to Egypt.[17]

By mid-June 1941, after a period of recuperation and leave, Manahi had returned to the Māori Battalion,[18] which had undergone a reorganisation following the campaign in Greece and Crete. It was now training for desert warfare and constructing defensive positions around the Baggush Box, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) west of El Alamein. During this time he participated in a divisional swimming competition, winning the freestyle 50 yards (46 m) race.[19][20] In November he, along with the rest of the division, participated in Operation Crusader. After crossing the Egyptian border into Libya, this involved near-constant fighting for well over a month, during which Manahi, with two others, captured and commandeered a German tank which had become stuck in B Company's trenches.[21] He drove the tank during an engagement with elements of the 21st Panzer Division on 26 November, helping capture an enemy field gun.[22] In early 1942, the New Zealanders were withdrawn to Syria for a period of rest and garrison duty.[23]

In late May 1942, the Panzer Army Africa, commanded by Generaloberst (colonel general) Erwin Rommel, attacked into Libya. The 2nd Division was rushed back from Syria and dug in at Minqar Qaim. Encircled by the Germans during the Battle of Mersa Matruh, the division was forced to break out from Minqar Qaim on 26 June and withdrew to positions around El Alamein in Egypt.[24] Here, suffering regular artillery barrages, it dug in to await an expected attack. By late August, no attack had been launched and it was decided a raid for prisoners would be undertaken by two companies, one of them being Manahi's B Company. This was successfully executed on 26 August, with over 40 enemy soldiers made prisoners of war.[25] The next month, the battalion was taken out of the line for a brief period of rest before returning for the Second Battle of El Alamein. During the fourth stage of the battle, in what was codenamed Operation Supercharge, Manahi and his company were involved in a successful bayonet charge against well dug-in Germans that had resisted a previous attack by another battalion.[26]

By now, it was clear that the Germans were in retreat and the Allies pursued them into Libya and Tunisia. After a battle at Tebaga Gap, during which Second Lieutenant Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu of the Māori Battalion's C Company won the Victoria Cross (VC),[27] planning began for a push into Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia. Before this could be achieved, a defensive line around Enfidaville needed to be broken.[28]

By April 1943, the 2nd New Zealand Division had advanced into mountainous country overlooking Enfidaville. Takrouna was a hill, about 1,000 feet (300 m) high, held by soldiers of the Italian Trieste Division's I/66° Battalion, and a German platoon. A village was situated on the summit of the hill with a prominent ledge to one side. The Māori Battalion was tasked by Brigadier Howard Kippenberger, the acting commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division, with the capture of Takrouna. B Company would make the main assault on 19 April, with C and D companies on the flanks. The initial attack petered out due to heavy machine gun fire from the enemy. The battalion's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Bennett, ordered Manahi to take a party of 12 men to make a feint attack while the remainder of B Company linked up with C Company. The party split into two sections, with one under the command of Manahi, newly promoted to lance sergeant. At dawn, they began their attack up a steep and at times near sheer slope and were successfully able to overwhelm the Italians defending the ledge, capturing 60 prisoners. The New Zealanders then dug in and prepared for a counter-attack. Artillery and mortar fire killed half of the platoon, including its commander. This left Manahi, as the senior non-commissioned officer, in charge.[29][30]

The upper slopes of Takrouna, Tunisia, on 1 June 1943, with graves in the foreground. This photograph gives an indication of the difficult terrain over which Manahi had led his men

With two attempts to contact the battalion having failed, Manahi made his way down Takrouna to locate reinforcements and supplies. Ignoring an officer's advice that he abandon the ledge, he returned with a section from C Company as well as ammunition and stretcher-bearers. A further platoon arrived to help consolidate the position. The expected counter-attack commenced and was successfully beaten off. It was only then, after having been on Takrouna for 16 hours, that Manahi and what was left of his section withdrew, leaving the newly arrived platoon to hold the ledge.[31][32]

Despite reinforcements, a further counter-attack launched by Italian forces on 21 April dislodged the New Zealanders and control of the ledge was lost. Kippenberger ordered the Māori Battalion to send reinforcements to rectify the situation. Manahi was specifically requested to join the effort to recapture the ledge due to his knowledge of the terrain. He went with a group of volunteers to regain the lost position and, with artillery support, the attack was successful. By midday, the ledge was reoccupied by the New Zealanders but the village on the summit remained in the hands of the Italians. Later in the afternoon of 21 April, Manahi led an attacking party of seven soldiers which, working with a group from 21st Battalion, captured the village and took 300 prisoners. After the battle, and with Takrouna secure, he assisted with the recovery of the bodies of his dead comrades.[31][33][34]

Manahi's exploits quickly became known throughout the 2nd New Zealand Division, and within a few days of his actions, a nomination for the VC had been prepared by the commander of his battalion. Brigadier Ralph Harding, commander of 5th Infantry Brigade, endorsed the nomination as did four senior officers: Kippenberger, Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg, the acting commander of X Corps, General Bernard Montgomery, the commander of the Eighth Army, and General Harold Alexander, the commander of 18th Army Group. General Henry Maitland Wilson, commander-in-chief of Middle East Command, likewise endorsed the award after considering the evidence.[35] When the nomination reached the Army Council in London, the award was downgraded to an immediate Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). Who authorised the downgrade is not clear, but historian Paul Moon notes that it was most likely that only the Chief of the General Staff, General Alan Brooke, had the seniority to do so, given the individuals who had endorsed the VC recommendation. Manahi's DCM was duly gazetted on 22 July 1943.[36][37]

The citation for the DCM read:

On the night of 19–20 April 1943 during the attack upon the Takrouna feature, Tunisia, Lance Sergeant Manahi was in command of a section. The objective of his platoon was the pinnacle, a platform of rock right on top of the feature. By morning the platoon was reduced in strength to ten by heavy mortar and small-arms fire and were pinned to the ground a short way up the feature. The platoon continued towards their objective, Lance Sergeant Manahi leading a party of three up the western side. During this advance, they encountered heavy machine-gun fire from posts on the slope and extensive sniping from the enemy actually on the pinnacle. In order to reach their objective, he and his party had to climb some 500 feet under heavy fire, the last 50 feet being almost sheer. He personally led the party after silencing several machine-gun posts and by climbing hand-over-fist they eventually reached the pinnacle. After a brief fight some sixty enemies, including an artillery observation officer, surrendered. They were then joined by the remainder of the platoon and the pinnacle was captured.

The area was subjected to intense mortar fire from a considerable enemy force still holding Takrouna Village and the northern and western slopes of the feature and later to heavy and continuous shelling. The Platoon Sergeant was killed and other casualties reduced the party holding the pinnacle to Lance Sergeant Manahi and two Privates. An artillery observation officer who had arrived ordered him to withdraw but he and his men remained and held the feature. This action was confirmed by Brigade Headquarters as soon as communications were established. Late morning found the party short of ammunition, rations and water. Lance Sergeant Manahi himself returned to his Battalion at the foot of the feature and brought back supplies and reinforcements, the whole time being under fire. During the afternoon the enemy counter-attacked in force, some of them gaining a foothold. In the face of grenades and small-arms fire he personally led his men against the attackers. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting ensued but eventually, the attackers were driven off. Shortly after this, the party was relieved. The following morning urgent and immediate reinforcements were required as the enemy had once more gained a foothold and Lance Sergeant Manahi led one of two parties which attacked and drove back the enemy despite concentrated mortar and heavy machine-gun fire. All that day the feature was heavily shelled, mortared and subjected to continual machine-gun fire from in and about Takrouna. Late in the afternoon of 21 April, Lance Sergeant Manahi on his own initiative took two men and moved around the north-western side of the feature. In that area were several enemies machine-gun and mortar posts and two 25-pounder guns operated by the enemy. With cool determination Lance Sergeant Manahi led his party against them, stalking one post after another always under the shell and machine-gun fire. By his skill and daring, he compelled the surrender of the enemy in that area.

This courageous action undoubtedly led to the ultimate collapse of the enemy defence and the capture of the whole Takrouna feature with over 300 prisoners, two 25-pounder guns, several mortars and seventy-two machine guns. On the night of 21–22 April, Lance Sergeant Manahi remained on the feature assisting in the evacuation of the dead and wounded and refused to return to his Battalion until this task was completed. During that time the area was being heavily and continually shelled.

Throughout the action, Lance Sergeant Manahi showed the highest qualities of an infantry soldier. He made a supreme contribution to the capture and holding of a feature vital to the success of the operation.[38]

The decision to downgrade the VC recommendation to an award of the DCM was a disappointment to many in the 2nd New Zealand Division.[39] Even outside of the division there was some surprise; the British Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks, who was present during the fighting at Takrouna and visited the site of the action afterwards, expressed his dismay at the downgrade of Manahi's award in his postwar memoirs.[33] Reports that Manahi's men had killed Italians attempting to surrender were thought by some historians to be a factor in the downgrading of his award.[40] The official history of the Māori Battalion, published in 1956, stated that the surrendering soldiers were "shot, bayonetted or thrown over a cliff" but only after an Italian grenade had been thrown into a building in which wounded New Zealanders were sheltering.[41] However, these reports may not have emerged until after the downgrading, and at the time the killings were alleged to have occurred, Manahi himself was reportedly dealing with an advance by Italian soldiers against the ledge.[40] Another factor in the downgrading may have been the recent VC nomination for Ngarimu, just three weeks earlier. The subsequent nomination of Manahi, a Māori like Ngarimu and from the same battalion, may have led to a perception that VCs were being too easily awarded.[42]

The surrender of the Axis forces in Tunisia in May left the Allies in control of North Africa. The 2nd New Zealand Division withdrew to its base in Egypt and it was announced that 6,000 of its personnel would return to New Zealand for a three-month furlough. Manahi, as one of around 180 surviving original members of the Māori Battalion, was among those selected and shipped out on 15 June 1943.[43] He was not to return to the war; after many of those on furlough vocalised their displeasure at the prospect of going back to war while other able-bodied men had yet to serve in the military, the New Zealand Government decided to exempt certain long-serving personnel from a return to duty. Māori soldiers, such as Manahi, would be among those released from service.[44]

On returning to Rotorua, Manahi entered a woodworking course and then began working at the local hospital as a carpenter.[45] On 18 December 1945, he was presented with his DCM by Cyril Newall, the Governor-General of New Zealand, in a ceremony at the Auckland Town Hall.[46] He was later selected for the New Zealand Victory Contingent, destined for England to celebrate the Commonwealth's role in the war. As part of the contingent, he participated in the Victory Parade in London on 8 June 1946. This fulfilled his last military obligations, and he was discharged in August.[45]