Photos of my grandfather who served with the 2nd New Zealand Division

I come across these photos of my grandfather who served with the 22nd battalion headquarters company in transport.

He served on Greece and Crete he fought as an infantry man on Crete he he also served in the desert war till Jan 1943.

The 1st photo was taken cira 1941,42 in Egypt or syria my grandfather is in the middle row standing third from the right.
The 2nd photo was taken at trentham army camp 1940.
The 3rd photo was taken 1940 in New Zealand.
The 4th photo was by the looks of things the platoon photo for the battalion taken at trentham 1940 my grandfather was in transport as part of the headquarters comapny 22nd battalion.
The 5th photo was my grandfather on the left and Corporal Tangi Moore on the right taken after they had got off Crete.

 

Thank you for sharing these excellent pictures. The one with the pitch hat is great. Do you know who the other gentleman is?

 

Yeah the last Photo my Grandfather Eddie Naylor also Eddie Nicholson he went under two names is on the left and the other guy is Tangi Moore Tangi from what i understand was his nickname.

The photo was taken after they had got back from Crete.

They were fighting as part of the hearquarters company in and around Pirgos village just behind the airfield.

They both survived the war Tangi was very lucky my grandfather was just as lucky on the 26th June 1942 when the battalion was moving up to Minqair qaim my grandfather wasn,t there he had just got out of hospital and was at the NZ advanced base as part of a rearguard party he spent a week there the battalion had parked up for the night when a german plane come over and dropped a bomb it landed 20 yards from the trucks and wounded Tangi and two others.

 

Thanks i have a few more here hope you enjoy.

The 1st photo was taken after Alamien just before they came out of the desert.
The 2nd photo was taken circa 1941,1942 either egypt or Syria my grandfather is second from the right.
The 3rd photo of my grandfather on his bike i think was taken in NZ before he shipped out, he was a former speedway racer so the bikes would have suited him.
The 4th photo i suspect was taken getting off Crete or Greece you can see at the top of the photo it looks like the sun was coming up and there is a warship in the background on Crete my grandfathers battalion got out on the last run of ships.

 

Soom more photos here.

The 1st photo was taken at trentham army camp probably around 1940 before they shipped out.
The 2nd photo was taken Circa 1941,42 in Egypt or Syria my grandfather is not in the photo i suspect he was taking the shot because they are his people you can see Corperal tangi Moore in the photo.
The 3rd photo was also taken circa 1941,42 in the desert.
The 4th photo my grandfather is on the far right of the photo and this was also taken in the desert circa 1941,42.

 

Gosh you have some real treasure here, it would be interesting to find out the names of the warships that transported your dad from Crete.

 

I,ve got the official history of the battle for Crete i will go through it and try to find the names of the ships that took them off.

 

Hi Steve,

many thanks for sharing this great pics! Your grandpa has seen a lot of troubles and places during the war. Be proud of him!

All the best

Ulrich

 

Thanks Gebirgsjaeger

 

fantastic pics, GREAT family wartime history

P.

 

Thanks Pierre glad people are enjoying them.

 

Where did your Grandpa get re-assigned to in January of 1943? He had a great deal of experience by then, no doubt about it.

 

He got sent home on the medical role he was put on the role jan 1943 got home march 1943 i never knew what was wrong with him my mother told me she thinks it was his hip or back.

I have his military records in New Zealand you can apply for them if you are family so i got them they were great to read reading world war two records in the handwriting of the day and it said Quote"soldier has 10 days to arrange appointment with orthopedic specialist and from what i understand orthopedic is bones so he had some kind of joint problem and in may of 1943 some 8 weeks later he was declared permantly unfit and discharged.

 

He did enough, more than his fair share. It was time for him to go home. He earned it.

 

I agree, when he volunteered for service he was 28-pushing 29 married with two kids you wouldn,t see that many people in this day and age in the same situation volunteer.

 

Tangi Moore Moore just passed away 3rd Augest 2010.

 

Sorry to hear that, Steven.
Some great pics there. Thanks for posting.

 

Hi (My first post)

Alfred Tangi Moore did pass away 3rd August aged 86 (My Father)

The Tangi referred to here was Aurther William Moore (known to many as Tangi)
where my Father got his name from. Dad was in Egypt but not until 1945.

Ross moore

 

great photos, thanks for posting them
LJS