Date of action: 26 Mar 1943 (Tebaga Gap, Tunisia); Date of award: 4 Jun 1943 (posthumous award)
Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu was the first Maori soldier to win the VC. A second lieutenant in the 28th (Maori) Battalion’s C Company, he took part in the assault at Tebaga Gap, Tunisia, in March 1943. The battalion’s objective was a strategically important hill known as Point 209. The first task was to take high ground below the summit. Ngarimu led his platoon up one of these lower hills on 26 March, personally knocking out several machine-gun posts. After capturing the crest, his men repelled a number of fierce German counter-attacks during the night. Despite wounds to his shoulder and leg, Ngarimu refused to leave his position. He was killed the next morning fighting off another enemy attack. Read more
