I recently read an account of Rommel's conversation with the captured NZ officer George H Clifton where he berates the Kiwis for their "gangster" tactics in killing unarmed prisoners of war after what must have been the Breakout at Minqar Qaim.
The account I read which was from a quite recent book states that Clifton answers Rommel stating that the massacre was due to their being a "large number of Maoris in the Division".
I've looked into this and other sources offer a different account that suggests that Clifton actually informed Rommel that the Kiwi Troops Bayoneted German wounded as some German Troops had feigned death/injury and afterwards had fired on the passing Kiwi troops and thrown grenades. Rommel accepted this as a sound tactic. He also documented that he thought the NZ troops the finest in the Commonwealth Army.
To me the second account seems more likely due to the detail it contained.
Interestingly I'm currently reading John Keegan's History of Warfare where he talks about studies of Maori Inter Iwi battle tactics. Basically they used a human form of Blitzkrieg. The strongest/fastest warriors started in the front rank and would run through the enemy lines slashing and maiming the enemy rather than killing, the killing was left up to warriors following behind. This tactic was quite devastating due to the speed of the attacks which involve constantly pushing forward and keeping moving it would have been very disheartening to the enemy.
The seems to be some similarity with the tactics used at Breakout at Minqar Qaim and I wonder if Maori troops consciously or unconsciously used traditional methods of fighting? After all the NZ wars where only 70 odd years before and I would imagine that those soldiers in WW2 would have been very familiar with how their ancestors fought. I reckon in the dead of night with death and terror all around it would be quite sensible to fall back onto your heritage and culture to steel yourself to survive.
Anyone know if Clifton spoke of his meeting with Rommel after the war? Apart from talking to Journalists after her made it to London?
Or anyone read any other accounts of the Battle?