Tiwha, was born on the 11 June 1906 to Anglican Bishop Right Reverend Frederick Augustus Bennet and Hannah Te Unahi Park. He was the third son and one of 14 siblings (his father married twice). Growing up, Tiwha attended Te Aute College in Rotorua and Napier Boys’ High School.
During the Second World War, Tiwha and 6 of his brothers were commissioned to join the ranks. He went overseas in the second echelon, the original Māori Battalion, as a Second Lieutenant. He served in Egypt, Greece and Crete as a Transport Officer.
On the 16th December 1940 Frederick left England for Egypt in charge of an advance party of 82 personnel from the transport and carrier platoons and an anti-aircraft section. This group took with them the Battalion vehicles and unwanted baggage.
Frederick was with the Battalion in Greece and Crete and the position of Transport officer was an exactingly difficult one, especially during the retreat from the Olympus Pass. There his platoon succeeded, under great pressure from the enemy and in the face of atrocious night time weather, in evacuating the troops.
In Crete, Headquarters Company was organised into a rifle company and Frederick was given command of the three platoons. He was severely wounded in a rearguard action near Maleme aerodrome during the Battalion’s evacuation, wounds notwithstanding he managed to organise, along with the Bn Medical officer, Charlie Mules, a group of other wounded to make their way over the White Mountains to the evacuation point at Sfakia and in this way got themselves out of Crete. Members of the group credit their survival to Frederick’s leadership.
After the return to Egypt Frederick moved from Transport to a platoon commander in B. Coy. At one stage he was acting O.C. for B. Coy during the Libyan Campaign of late 1941.
At the end of the Campaign he was appointed to a senior position at Base Camp, Maadi. He completed his military service and returned to New Zealand with the first furlough draft as a Captain. He was awarded the War Medal 1939-1945 and the New Zealand War Service Medal.
Upon Tiwha’s return to New Zealand, he started a family with his wife, Marjory Campbell, who he married in 1944. Together they had four daughters and a son. He also completed a degree in dentistry at Otago University and practiced in Ponsonby, Auckland until his death.
He was a member of the Auckland Lions Club and a member of the Auckland Racing Club.
Frederick died on the 31st July 1967 at the age of 61.
Many fellow Battalion members attended his funeral (tangi) at the Mangere marae and the service at St. Andrews’ Anglican church and burial.
Frederick Te Tiwha Bennett
Died 1967
IMAGE: AWMM
