Sir Robert Nairn Gillies, KNZM

Sir Robert Gillies, World War II, 28th Māori Battalion, B Company: After the 1931 Napier Earthquake destroyed their Waimarama home, Robert and his family moved to Ohinemutu, his mother's pa. His father had been confined to a wheelchair after a farming accident. Robert attended St Mary’s Convent, Rotorua Primary School and later Rotorua High School. During World War II he attempted to enlist in the Māori Battalion twice but failed. He succeeded on his third attempt at just 17 years old, after lying about his age, very common at the time. He was at Sangro River, wounded at Orsonga, the Battle of Monte Cassino. Bom was among the 700-plus Maori Battalion members who sailed into Wellington on board the Dominion Monarch, arriving in January, 1946. He received Italy’s Order of Merit (2019) and was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (2022). In his later years, Sir Bom strongly advocated an anti-war stance, describing in various interviews the futility of war. “Wars are created for power and money … war is only about killing people,” he told Julian Wilcox in an interview for The Hui in 2023. “It shouldn’t be like that.”

Sources

1. Cenotaph: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/...
2. Rotorua Trust: https://www.inprofile.co.nz/inprofile/bom