Fred Baker (soldier)
Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Baker DSO (19 June 1908 – 1 June 1958) was a New Zealand soldier who served in the Second World War, leading the 28th (Māori) Battalion from 13 July to 2 November 1942. He was injured at the commencement of the Second Battle of El Alamein and his wounds were such that he was repatriated back to New Zealand. He later worked in New Zealand's public service, leading the Rehabilitation Department which assisted servicemen returning from the war into civilian life, by providing them with finance, training and housing.
Frederick Baker
19 June 1908
Kohukohu, New Zealand
1 June 1958 (aged 49)
Wellington, New Zealand
1926–1943
28th (Māori) Battalion (1942)
Accountant
Public servant
Early life[edit]
Frederick Baker was born in the Hokianga, in the north of the North Island of New Zealand, on 19 June 1908 to a bushman and his wife. Of Ngāpuhi descent (via his mother), he attended local schools in the area. Entering the public service after completion of his education, he worked for the Public Works Department based in Whangārei before moving to Hamilton in 1928. He became an accountant, qualifying in late 1931. He transferred to Wellington in 1933, working for the Audit Office and in the same year, married Edna Mavis Carrie. The couple would go on to have two children. By 1935, he was working for the Mortgage Corporation of New Zealand.[1]
Later life[edit]
In November 1943, after recovering from his war wounds, Baker was appointed head of the newly formed Rehabilitation Department. The department was charged with establishing ex-servicemen and women into civilian life by providing them with finance, training and housing.[14] Māori soldiers returning to New Zealand after service in the First World War had found rehabilitation policies at the time discriminated against them. Baker advocated and worked for equal treatment for Pākehā (people of European descent) and Māori soldiers returning from the Second World War, setting up a dedicated committee for Māori. Despite the department being amalgamated into the Department of Internal Affairs in 1954, he continued in his rehabilitation role. He was also a Public Services Commissioner from September 1954 until his death in 1958 from a heart attack.[1] He is buried in the servicemen's section of Wellington's Karori Cemetery.[15]