Eruera Te Whiti o Rongomai Love (18 May 1905 – 12 July 1942) was a New Zealand rugby player, interpreter and military leader. Of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent, he identified with the Te Ati Awa

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. One of seven surviving children of Wi Hapi Pakau Love and

Ripeka Wharawhara Love Ripeka Wharawhara Love OBE (28 June 1882 – 6 April 1953) was a New Zealand community leader. She was born on 28 June 1882 and was a member of Te Āti Awa. At age 15, Ripeka Love married Wi Hapi Pakau Love with whom she had ten children, seven ...

, he was born in Waikawa Bay,

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, New Zealand on 18 May 1905. A

Territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

officer, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was a company commander and later battalion commander of the

Māori Battalion The 28th (Māori) Battalion, more commonly known as the Māori Battalion, was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army that served during the Second World War. It formed following pressure on the Labour government from some Māori Memb ...

. He was killed in action in the Western Desert on 12 July 1942.

References

1905 births 1942 deaths 20th-century translators Interpreters New Zealand Māori soldiers New Zealand Māori sportspeople New Zealand military personnel killed in World War II New Zealand rugby union players Te Āti Awa people {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1900s-stub