Fred Baker ( military ) 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 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 . Early life . 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 Whangarei 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 . Military career . Baker had joined the Territorial Forces in his late teens and served with the Northland and Waikato Mounted Rifles as a lieutenant . When he moved to Wellington for work in 1933 , he became a reserve officer due to the absence of mounted rifle units in Wellington . Having maintained an interest in the military and concerned by the increasing likelihood of war , in May 1939 he requested to be placed on the active list . Second World War . It was not until November 1939 that a role was found for Baker , as intelligence officer of the 28th ( Māori ) Battalion , then in the process of formation . However , Baker himself never particularly identified as being Māori . In May , the battalion embarked for the Middle East to join the first echelon of the 2nd New Zealand Division in May 1940 but were diverted for defensive duties in England . By early 1941 , the threat of invasion by the Germans had eased and the battalion was finally shipped to Egypt to join up with the rest of the division . Baker in the meantime , had been promoted to captain and placed in command of the battalion ' s headquarters company . Greece and Crete . As the battalion trained at its base in Helwan in preparation for the battalion ' s impending move to Greece , reinforcements from New Zealand arrived to fill the ranks , depleted by illness . Baker was placed in command of the excess troops , which had been formed into a reinforcement company . When the battalion arrived in Greece on 27 March 1941 , Baker ' s company was responsible for the battalion ' s advance base outside of Athens . Attached to the 5th Infantry Brigade , the battalion made a good account of itself defending its assigned portion of the Olympus Pass against elements of the 9th Panzer Division but were forced to withdraw from its positions on 17 April . Baker , having been tasked by Brigadier Edward Puttick , the commander of the 4th Infantry Brigade , with the collection of stragglers , was captured by German paratroopers . He managed to escape and , falling in with a truckload of Greeks , returned to Puttick ' s headquarters . He was once more ordered to collect stragglers ( this time with infantry support ) and direct them to the Porto Rafti beaches in preparation for embarkation for Crete . On Crete , Baker was assigned to the battalion ' s D Company . He participated in the various defensive actions around Maleme airfield when the Germans launched their attack . Withdrawing from Maleme , Baker led a mixed force of men including infantry from 20th Battalion in an attack to recapture a bridge held by the Germans , but was repulsed . He was later appointed commander of A Company , and was wounded in defending a German counterattack . He led a party of walking wounded to an embarkation point from where they were evacuated to Egypt on 31 May . Egypt . After recuperating from his wounds , Baker was appointed to command of a company in 25th Battalion , then engaged in the North African Campaign along with the rest of the 2nd New Zealand Division . However , in May 1942 , he rejoined the 28th Battalion as its second in command , having been promoted to major . The following month , the battalion was engaged in fighting with the Afrika Corps as it attacked into Egypt . The battalion ' s commanding officer was killed during an artillery barrage on 12 July elevating Baker to command . Promoted to temporary lieutenant - colonel , Baker withdrew the battalion behind the lines for a brief period of recuperation . Returning to the front lines on 18 July , the battalion manned defensive positions in anticipation of a German attack . In August , it was tasked with carrying out a raid for prisoners and Baker took personal responsibility for reconnoitering the route and objective for the raid , which proved to be a success . It was the first offensive operation conducted by a unit of the Eighth Army since the then Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery took command , and he sent a message of congratulations on the successful execution of the raid . An attack on the Munassib Depression followed in late August . While the attack was successfully carried out and the objective seized , some elements of the battalion carried on the attack deeper into enemy lines . At one stage , it was feared that these elements would be cut off but Baker was able to withdraw his men to their proper positions . Once again , at the conclusion of the operation , the exploits of Baker ' s command were recognised . The battalion then fought in the Second Battle of El Alamein . Initially used to mop up behind the two brigades bearing the brunt of the New Zealand attack , it was decided that the battalion would be used for . This attack , to be launched on 2 November , was designed to breach the German lines and establish a corridor through which British armour could break out from Alamein . His battalion subordinate to the British 151 Infantry Brigade for the operation , Baker was unhappy with the lack of detail in the planning of the operation . On arriving at the starting line for his unit , he found Australian units in the wrong positions and convinced their commanding brigadier to move them . Within minutes of the commencement of the attack , he was wounded in the face . His wounds , to his mouth and tongue , were serious and he was repatriated to New Zealand where he would spend nearly a year in extensive rehabilitation . His exploits as commander of the 28th Battalion were recognised with an award of the Distinguished Service Order , which was gazetted in 1944 . Later life . 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 . 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 .