Corporal Wiwi Teneti of C Company won the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his part in the fierce fighting at Point 209, Tebaga Gap, in March 1943 - the action in which 2nd Lieutenant Ngārimu won his posthumous VC. J.F. Cody's official history, 28 (Maori) Battalion (1956), gives the following account of Teneti's courageous actions:
'Moving by section rushes Lieutenant Ngarimu got 14 Platoon to the base of Hikurangi without serious loss. The hill was steep, the ground rocky, and the enemy was dug in above them, but Ngarimu went straight up. He annihilated two strongposts single-handed and near the top found himself with one section led by Corporal Wiwi Teneti. The Germans evacuated that part of the crest and Teneti, finding that the other two sections were held up by two machine-gun posts above them, took a Bren gun and, firing from the shoulder in full view of the enemy, kept their heads down long enough for his men to rush the posts. The rest of the platoon were then able to join their commander and establish themselves near the crest of Hikurangi. No. 15 Platoon in the centre was pinned near the base of Hikurangi by machine-gun fire from Point 209 and had to remain there until dark...
No. 13 Platoon, possibly aided by the diversion caused by Ngarimu's men, managed to work around and join them. By this time it was nearly 6 p.m. The two subalterns made their arrangements to push on to the top of Point 209 but soon discovered that it was not going to be easy to stay where they were. The enemy was only a few yards away on the far side of the crest, which was swept continuously by machine guns on Point 209, and the Germans were as determined to push the Maoris off the crest as the Maoris were determined to stay there. The enemy made several dashes over the top with bayonets but the Maori bayonets were waiting; their automatics were also waiting and the German losses were heavy. The casualties were not all on the one side, however, for by last light Captain Awatere had been wounded once, Lieutenant Ngarimu twice, and Corporal Teneti was the only survivor in his section. He had then joined the remainder of the platoon and fought on until he himself was seriously wounded. He was awarded the DCM.'
(Cody, pp. 271-72)
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