Tracing Lifelines Through the Archives: The Health of Wounded Māori Second World War Veterans in the Immediate Postwar Years

Abstract: The 28th Māori Battalion served with the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) in the Middle East and Italy during the Second World War. A distinctive unit organised along tribal lines and under Māori command, the battalion had a celebrated record of service. They also had one of the highest casualty rates in the 2NZEF, yet little is known about the impact of war on their hauora (wellbeing) after they returned home. This article provides an initial sketch of Māori servicemen’s lived experiences of medical rehabilitation using hospital registers, military personnel files, oficial data, death records, inquest files, and memoirs, concentrating on Māori returned veterans who died prior to 1950. When combined, these sources provide an insight into Māori health during and immediately after the war, and also illuminate the reasons men were repatriated, the nature of their wounds, and how they encountered medical care on their return.