Dispatch rider training

Being a motorcycle dispatch rider was as dangerous as being an infantryman. The Māori Battalion lost several to injuries, capture and death. Indeed, its first fatal casualty of the war, Tokena (Pango) Pokai, was a dispatch rider killed in a night-time road accident in England on 5 September 1940. These two men are training prior to the Battalion's campaign in Libya in late 1941. Left: Kahupu Lionel Heremia

Reference:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: DA-1345
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Comments (1)

memories ....

Submitted by rawinia on Fri, 20/04/2012 - 13:51

He didn't talk often of his time 'at war'. He was nearly 29 when he joined up to defend his country. Anzac Day, was his day - up at 5, freshly ironed shirt, tie, suit and medals. Hankie folded proper, in his top pocket - kiss for Mum - the car would arrive to pick him up and off he would go. The soundz filtered thru the kitchen wall, next to my bedroom. At, between 12 and 12.30, the car would pull up, my Father would fall himself out the car door - wobble to his feet, come thru the front door and go straight to bed. Has shot in the leg, while he was 'serving' - his gun jammed, and he stood, to bang the weapon on the ground and felt his leg go out from under him - God pulled him to his feet, he said - the only time he talked of God. He was a Great man, my Dad.