I went to the Waiouru for the first time in years and was struck by a number of things; one is that it’s a lot less jingoistic than the regimental museums I’d seen in the UK. Far more effort was made to present both sides’ views in controversial conflicts such as the New Zealand Wars, the Boer War and the like. I was struck by the degree to which the NZ army, well into World War II, had been commanded either by New Zealanders who had been educated in England and lived as English gentlemen, or by Englishmen of that social class coming to the New Zealand Army in order to more quickly advance in command positions than they could in England.
The bit that got my attention, though, was when Maire pointed out a note to soldiers in Egypt instructing them in “proper” behaviour toward the Egyptians. The gist of the note was that the Egyptians did not deserver the same treatment as “our Maoris” and were of an entirely different, and lower, order of humanity; familiarity ought to be avoided lest the New Zealanders become polluted by their ways.
I was struck by two things: the distinction between Maori who were clearly not held in the same low esteem as other people with non-white skin, and the fact that the New Zealand troops saw no particular need to discriminate against the Egyptians, but their officers did - those officers who, I mentioned earlier were predominantly English in outlook and education. It’s peversely pleasing to think that the New Zealand troops were inadequately racist.
