Razzas on parade

A tour of our RSAS is an amiable Anzac Day excursion, barring some uncomfortable history.

- RUSSELL BAILLIE

TĀMATI'S RSA ROADIE, TVNZ 1, Anzac Day, 10am
With its cheerful name and the affable Tāmati Rimene-Sproat as its presenter, this reconnoitre of the country's RSAS might seem like a feel-good manoeuvre or an extended Anzac Day Good Sorts. But the tiki tour of half a dozen clubs between Hokianga and South Canterbury does ponder some questions about the state of the veterans' organisation and its history - and gets some occasionally surprising answers.

The most startling comes in an interview with Sir Robert "Bom" Gillies, the 98-year-old last surviving member of the Māori Battalion. On their return home to Rotorua after fighting in North Africa and Italy, including the Battle of Monte Cassino, he and his former comrades weren't welcomed by the organisation supposedly founded to support veterans.