WW2 36 NZ Survey Battery Diary advice sought

[Tgapitbull]

During WW2 my father served in the 36 NZ Survey Battery.  He was M/I from 32 NZ Field Regiment to Advance Base 36 NZ Survey Battery on 25 September 1943.

On 5 November 1944 he was M/O from 36 NZ Survey Battery to NZ Artillery Corps.

Archives NZ Wellington hold the monthly diary of the 36 NZ Survey Battery during the above period.  The cost to digitise the monthly diary is likely to range between $35 [cost for Oct 1944] - $70 [cost for Sept 1943].

I know very little about his time in the Army during WW2 and what little I know is mainly from his WW2 Military personnel record.  I do however know he was at Monte Cassino as I have some photos.  I am seeking to find out as much info as I can about his time in Italy.  At the end of the war he was in Trieste, as he was presented with a photo signed by D Celestino Cerri? and dated 22 June 1945.  This photo was of the summits of Jof Fuart.

I would be interested in advice as to whether it would be useful to pay for the digitising of the monthly diary or whether I should look to find someone who would be willing to visit Archives NZ in Wellington to inspect the records for any relevant information on a paid basis?

Grateful for any advice.

TPB

[shanreagh]

When you say 'the cost to digitise' are you meaning like this for 22nd Battalion and the Crete extract I was using when particpating in a family project? or are you meaning that Archives will do its own digitising and hold this on the Archives site? 

Have you checked the NZETC site for details about the 36 NZ Survey Battalion?

https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Cret-c3-1.html

After the war there were histories written by Internal Affairs/Culture and Heritage? not sure who but they had a cream and red dust cover. This gave general (rather than personal information) but were useful in scene setting. 

Other useful avenues:
1 find out who shared the line with your dad's group.  A larger grouping may have had their histories  digitised.

2 ask in your dad's family if they are holding letters from him still. They may be of the flimsy type with cut-outs where info was cut out of the text by censors but you might get some info.

3 Did your dad keep any sort of a diary?  They were not supposed to but my dad did. Four little volumes and it seems only about 9 months were lost. 

4  There were some Army newspapers one was called 8th Army News but there was one that was for the NZEF.  National Library or Archives have sets of these.

5 If your dad told stories then write them down.  My dad told of wall to wall mud in the advance up Italy, of staying in a parachute factory in Forli?, of going to Florence, of being given tickets to operatic productions in Milan/Florence and being one of a very few using them.   Then of climbing and being rescued when darkness fell, and he had lost the path back,  by Italians working at a hydro station near Fabriano.  He later made friends with one of them and we have some special gifts from this family. Sounds like your dad may have gone climbing as well. 


PS I have searched on the NZETC site for '36 NZ Survey Battery' There are a quite a number of links:

https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Arti-c13.html

https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/WH2Arti-fig-WH2Art059a.html

https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Gree-c5.html

https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Arti-c15-7.html

https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Arti-c21.html

etc etc


 

[Tgapitbull]

Many thanks Shanreagh for your helpful suggestions and advice.
I am meaning that Archives will do its own digitising and hold this on the archives site.

I have checked the NZETC site for details and I have a copy of the Dept of Internal Affairs, Historical Publications Branch, 2nd NZ Divisional Artillery.  Inside this book I found a copy of the NZED Order of Service of thanksgiving on the occasion of cessation of hostilities in Europe.

There are no letters written by him about his time in Italy and he did not keep a diary.  I do have a number of negatives [some I have lost because they were stored incorrectly], photos and postcards.

My Dad did not talk much about the war.  What little I know I am in the process of writing down as you have suggested, hence my enquiry.  It took me awhile, but in his latter years I got his permission to apply for his medals and I now have these.

He did talk about arriving in Egypt in Maadi Camp.  He spoke about fellow soldiers buying water melons from the market.  The locals had bored small holes and put water into them to increase the weight, as they were sold by weight.  Needless to say they got sick!  As a young child I remember him making pizzas.

I liked your stories from your Dad that you mentioned in no. 5.

He made friends with a Dr Franc[e or o] Ziffer in Solferino, Florence, whom my older sister visited while on her OE in the 1970s.  I am trying to trace his family as well as that of D Celestino Cerri.

Thanks again for your many suggestions for further research which I will work through.

TPB

[shanreagh]

i just had another thought.....if your Dad was in 36 Survey battery was he a surveyor in pre or post wartime life?  I know that many went to the survey school at Otago University and I wondered if the Survey School  library or Otago University generally may have a collection of historic wartime bits for graduates who served overseas. 

[Tgapitbull]

Thanks Shanreagh for this thought.
My Dad worked for State Fire Insurance/State Insurance in pre/post war life.
He may have been posted to the 36 Survey Battery because he was a keen skier, climber and tramper?  I do know that he was a member of the Hutt Valley Tramping Club - I am in contact with them.
I have been reading through the DIA 2nd NZ Divisional Artillery book and checking photos/postcards for place names and dates and putting together a timeline which I hope to flesh out.
Thanks for your suggestions.

TPB

[shanreagh]

...
He may have been posted to the 36 Survey Battery because he was a keen skier, climber and tramper? 
.....

TPB

Fit, staff training/management experience and also good with figures for advanced calculations for time/distance as well.  Tramping would be useful here too as driving/marching/firing on the flat is different from driving/marching/firing on hilly terrain. 

Have you looked for references in Papers Past?
(it was through scanning PP I found out how my grandparents met, long been a family mystery, and  the golfing prowess of my Uncle, lost on Crete and also the fine he got for riding a bicycle without lights in 1938! He & my Dad were both members of the Tararua Tramping club. ) 

[Tgapitbull]

Yes, interesting what you find on PP!
I found an engagement notice for my father and a Vera Anne Johnston, dau of Hugh Johnston of Taihape (not my mother) in the Evening Post on 24 April 1943.
This was shortly before he left for war.
I regularly check PP for any new additions.

TPB