Good afternoon again Seaweed,
You sound as enthralled as I am! You've obviously been 'delving'.
As you know, the Mataroa on the NZ mail runs was the next ship he was on after the Orama which was on the Australia mail runs. Both back and forth from Aus/NZ to/from Victoria/Tilbury/S'Hampton.
Don't know the sailings of the Orama in February 1940 but if she had docked at Tilbury, as she had been in the habit of, then he could conceivably been seconded into her crew. After all, Tilbury is only up river from Victoria docks and I can imagine him volunteering to be put into a pool.
I see she was a troop ship and sunk by the Admiral Hipper. I agree it could be possible he was in the crew and that would account for those missing years.
I have been researching this chap on and off for the last 25 years or so and kept coming up against brick walls and dead ends. Spending hours at Kew and getting nowhere.Most frustrating.
I am seriously considering your kind offer of you taking a look in September. I am off to Arnhem for the Market Garden commemorations. But then getting myself over to Kew is not easy I must say I'm just in the wrong location geographically to get there easily.
If I may be so bold as to take you up on your generous offer, please let me know what else you will need in the way of details to help look things up without going off on 'red herrings' or wasting time. That would be wonderful.
I suspect you know your way around these MN series far far better than most. If it were 1WW army I would be in my element or even Boer War or Zulu War.
I can send you all his sailings, ships, dates, etc. no problem if that will help. How would I get them to you should you need them?
My family tree is pretty much complete regards the 'services' side of things.
It's full of heroes! I have a grand father who won a DCM with the RGA in 1900, his son was RA in the 2WW and had two MID's and Henry Blogg GC of the Cromer life boat. Oh and Stevenson from Bristol who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel but that was just stupidity not heroism!
So you see I would love to get the facts about George as he appears to have been another colourful character and no doubt would be entitled to at least 3 2WW medals.
By the way. If he was serving in the MN during that period, would he have kept his original No.609629 or would he have been issued with a wartime number?
Incidentally, I have just double checked his D o B and is 12/08/1889 NOT 1886. His Discharge books both show it as 1889 as do several other documents I have. However, his birth certificate has his birth as 12th August 1886. So as far as the MN was concerned he was 50 in February 1940. This would have just put him in the 'active service' bracket. Nes pas?
This conversation is most encouraging I must say, thankyou.
Best regards,
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Topic: OCCUPATIONS DURING 2WW FOR MEN OVER 50 (Read 2076 times)