It seemed the best thing to do to give this space to Anzac Day and the peace we long for.
Howard Baker is a gracious, quietly spoken man. He is well read and knows his history. He is a resident of Whitianga with his wife Dayle. He is retired. Last year, Howard and Dayle, with their two sons, one of whom lives in Germany made an important journey to Crete. The Informer asked him about that journey so we could share it with you as Anzac Day approaches.
“It was my father really, Hubert George Baker. I was 14 tears old at the time and my dad was talking about the people of Crete. He had such fond memories of the people there from World War Two.
“He was a Sergeant in the Maori Battalion and he always spoke of Crete, North Africa and Italy which was where he served. Crete was special to him because it was the first time that as a complete battalion, they had engaged in military combat.
“That day I gave him a smart answer and said, ‘I will go there one day.’ He didn’t say anything but it was like a joke. However, I never forgot what I said and it took me 60 years to keep my word.
I had some health issues issue – cancer, and I realised that if I was going to do it… It had to be now. We planned the trip and as one of our sons lives in Germany we could include Crete and also see our son. This brought back so many memories of my father.
My father was broken by the war. He still had a strength about him but there were times at night you could hear him calling out. His memories must have been terrible. He would be screaming. Mum would come in to the kids room and get in bed with them. One incident when we were at Rata, he had gone missing.
People came to look for him. He was sitting in a ditch yelling orders to imaginary soldiers to keep their heads down.
One local soldier
There was something else we did in Crete. There was an article in last year’s The Informer about TC. Cannon. He was the only Mercury Bay soldier killed in the Battle of Crete. I made it my business to find his memorial. My two sons came over with us. They organised for a tour guide and it was the best thing we could have done. The locals were well aware of the 28th Battalion. My dad never called it the Maori Battalion. He always referred to it as the 2-8 or the 28. They didn’t want to be seen as different form the other New Zealand forces. The number of the battalion said it all.
Our guide was very knowledgeable. He took us around the battle area called The Hill 107. That battle was the Battle for Crete.
We walked the whole cemetery till I found TC Canon. When I found him I was over the moon. I just hoped that he would have a relative who knows something. This man came from Whenuakite.
We spent a lot of time thinking how it would have been for Dad.
The museum we went to at the entrance had a section on the 2-8 or 28th Battalion. The Museum was a private one built in a bunker that the Germans had built. Above that was a church. This became the museum. When I asked why this had been so specially set up, the guide said, “The Maori Battalion stayed in my village but this was where they came and fought.”
My father is now buried in a place called Ohingiati, south of Taihape.
He settled there because my grandfather owned a lot of Maori land and he allocated that to his children. Because the Maori soldiers were not eligible for any land grants he made sure his son and son-in-laws families were taken care of.
A miraculous re-union
When my Dad was coming back from the war, he was on a hospital ship. My dad was very fair. He took after the English side of the family. This guy was quite dark tripped over his legs. My father said, “Get off me you black bugger! This guy was a medic. What’s your name? “Howard Charles Baker.” It was my Dad’s brother. My dad had tripped up his own brother. It was a wonderful reunion. They had met again on the ship bringing them home to New Zealand.
Howard reads and thinks a lot about world affairs and history.
“We can’t seem to help ourselves. As humans we keep resorting to wars.”
But Howard smiles as sick as he is because he is a man with hope in his heart for the future.
