Episode One:
In this first episode we hear veterans of the New Zealand Army remembering the days when they first joined up, and their training at home, their garrison duties and courses undertaken, and all that went into preparing them for war later in Italy
Featuring:
Jack Cumming (22 Battalion)
Pat Green (24 Battalion)
Norm Harris (24 Battalion)
Ted ‘Bluey’ Homewood (21 Battalion)
Harry Hopping (24 Battalion)
Brynn Hughes (26 Battalion)
Tom McLennan (7th Field Comp, NZ Engineers)
Colin Murray (24 Battalion)
Bob O’Brien (24 Battalion)
Neil Scott (6th Field Ambulance)
Duration: 58 minutes 33 seconds
Narration provided by Jason McQuarters
Recordings and Editing by Dave Homewood
Produced by Dave Homewood
For extra information relating to this episode please go here:
https://newzealandersatwar.com/Extra_Army_Camps.html
NB: Air Force and Navy Training will be covered in later episodes
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Great to hear these old men remembering the old times.
I have just listen to this and recognised voices and places and also remembered hearing very similar stories. Thank-you for recording these for perpetuity.
Thank you – I have Dad’s similar interview recording covering the training period – he joined the 24th Battalion, North Africa and Italy finishing in Trieste – I enjoyed hearing a similar but different perspective.
Looking forward to the next episodes.
Firing 20 bullets from a rifle between joining up and departure – I guess bullets were expensive and in short supply – I think I would have paid for a few more target shooting sessions.
Thanks Phil. Sorry for the delay. Yes it is rather remarkable that the average soldier got so little in the way of live firing raining. Of course many young men back then had experience of shooting on farms, etc, rabbit and duck and deer hunting, etc, so we were not sending away a bunch of complete novices I guess, and they got a lot more live firing in Egypt’s training grounds before making it to the front lines.
I’d love to hear your father’s recording if possible. Is he still around today?
Hello Dave, Brilliant recordings, absolute treasures. Thanks you for making these available.
Do you have any recordings from Veterans talking about the 1941 Campaigns in Greece/Crete, and the Desert Battles? If so, I would love to hear them.
Thanks Paul. I do have a few such interviews, and may one day make them available if I ever find the time.