Reference:
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Reference: Detail of PA.000038
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Comments (2)
Uncle Wattie
Submitted by Ferne Wiesner on Wed, 25/04/2012 - 13:14
Uncle Wattie
Submitted by Paumea Horton McKay (not verified) on Fri, 10/01/2020 - 03:19
Wattie Horton McKay. Your mention that uncle Wattie Horton McKay was a News Paper Reporter reminded me of a conversation between LT General Jerry Mataparae and a visiting British General bout five years ago. This British General had been a Lieutenant serving with the Maori Battalion who nicknamed him Sandy. He was a POW with uncle Wattle. He told how uncle Wattie had been wounded in charging a German Machine Gun Post. That’s how come he was unable to escape. Sandy escaped and became a British General. While reminiscing he said to Jerry jokingly "We can talk openly about anything now because there is no News Reporter around".
During an SAS reunion I mentioned to Jerry that Wattie McKay was my uncle and he said "so the story is now full circle". [I use the name Jerry because its too long to use his full title. Sir Jerry Mateparae, who enlisted as a soldier with the Regular Force of the New Zealand Army in 1972...I left the Army 1965 after almost five years with 1 Ranger Squadron N Z SAS] Like me, he served in both battalions of the RNZIR and with the New Zealand Special Air Service.
I first heard that uncle had been a News Paper Reporter with the New York Times and upon the outbreak of war returned to NZ. This story was told by Colonel Wira Gardner in his updated book 28th Maori Battallion.
Mauri Ora Paumea Horton Mckay