James Herbert Henderson
Born 26 Aug 1918 - Died 11 Jul 2005
- Service number
- 24563 AWMM
- Also known as
- Jim AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- WW2 Gunner/Military AWMM New Zealand Artillery, 6 Field Regiment AWMM
- War
- World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- James Herbert AWMM
- Surname
- Henderson AWMM
- Ingoa
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- Also known as
- Jim AWMM
- Service number
- 24563 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
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- Religion
- Church of England, Christian AWMM
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 26 Aug 1918 AWMM
- Date of birth
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- Place of birth
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- Birth notes
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- Address before enlistment
- Pre 01 Dec 1939 AWMM Motueka, Nelson, New Zealand AWMM
- Post war occupation
- Writer/Civilian AWMM
- Broadcaster/Civilian AWMM
- Next of kin
- Mrs H.C. Henderson (mother), 'Kairuru', Takaka Hill, Motueka, Nelson, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- Pre 1941 AWMM Single AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
- Campaign
- Libya AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- 24563 AWMM
- Military service
- Nelson College cadets AWMM
- 35th Battery AWMM
- B Force, 8th Brigade, New Zealand 3rd Division AWMM
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
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Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- '....damn all, except Papakura Camp, antique, 1940!' AWMM
- Branch Trade Proficiency
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- Enlistment
- WW2 Dec 1939 AWMM
Age 21 AWMM
Journalist/Civilian AWMM - Age on enlistment
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- Occupation before enlistment
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Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW2 Vessel was Aquitania AWMM Temporary Lance Bombardier AWMM 35 Field Battery, B Troop AWMM Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- WW2
1 Dec 1941 AWMM
Sidi Rezegh AWMM - WW2 POW - Bari Military Hospital, Bari, Italy AWMM
Dec 1941-Nov 1942 AWMM - WW2 POW - P.G. 75, Bari, Italy AWMM
- WW2 POW - P.G. 57, Gruppignano, Udine, Italy AWMM
- WW2
- Days interned
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- Liberation date
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- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
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- POW serial number
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Medical history
- Medical notes
- Other, WWII AWMM
Spectacles AWMM - 1941 AWMM Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWII AWMM
Left leg amputated. Hospitals admitted to included Bari, Altamura, hospitals in Italy, Egypt, Wellington, Hutt, Rotorua, Green Lane, Auckland Public Hospital. AWMM
- Other, WWII AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW2 1946 AWMM Gunner/Military AWMM
New Zealand Artillery, 6 Field Regiment AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Husband of Jill; father of Nichola, Guye, Andrew and Andrea
Jim Henderson was a copy boy at the Nelson Evening Mail when he volunteered to go to war at age 20.
He was largely blind in his left eye since birth - but just before the Army medical, someone told him the sequence of letters on the eye chart. (Source: New Zealand Herald article' Gunner's exorcism an enduring theatre of war' 24-25 April 2004, page A7)
Mr Henderson still can't explain why he volunteered, except that comradeship played a large part. Going "was like being in your footy team or basketball team...the spirit of all the cobbers together." And, he signs, "it was a crazy love of Britain. Absurd, really." (Source : New Zealand Herald article' Gunner's exorcism an enduring theatre of war' 24-25 April 2004, page A7)
Wrote amongst many others 'Gunner Inglorious' the story of a POW, and 'Down from Marble Mountain'
He also wrote a page called "Unofficial History" for the NZRSA Review which covered a wide and varied selection of tales, telling the 'war as we Rankers saw it'. He wrote this between 1953-1955 , never missing an issue.
He also gathered together a book based on his "Unofficial History" roundup, called "Soldier Country" which was published in New Zealand twice.
Of his capture he wrote "December 1941, (8am and no cup of tea!)".
One of Jim's favourite quotes is "Two things make a nation, the land and the dead."
James Henderson was awarded the MBE.
Gunner James Henderson (PG 57)
Letter: 17 April
We have had 2 issues of Red Cross parcels, full of good things and we are getting cigarettes. Please don't think of me as unlucky. I am not! I am becoming daily more proficient on the old crutches and feel far stronger than a fortnight ago. Encountered some Italian wounded recently - quite decent little blokes and oh yes! I got 2 eggs for Easter. It is 7pm and as I write there is a large bowl of tea, marmalade and butter at my right hand - delicious - the result of an issue of Red Cross parcels. They certainly are eagerly anticipated by the boys.
(Source: The New Zealand prisoner of war pamphlet (No. 7, November 1942, p.11)) AWMM
About death
- Death
- 11 Jul 2005 AWMM
Age 86 AWMM - Date of death
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- Age at death
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- Place of death
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- Cause of death
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- Death notes
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- Cemetery
- Motueka Cemetery, Motueka, New Zealand AWMM Plot number 1 162 AWMM
- Cemetery name
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- Grave reference
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- Obituary
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- Memorial name
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- Memorial reference
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Memorial
- Memorial name
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Related objects
Sources
- External links
- Murphy, W. (1966). 2nd New Zealand Divisional Artillery. Wellington, Dept. of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Arti.html
Sources Used - Prisoners of War 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force - Repatriated Medically Unfit Protected Personnel. Archives NZ R25405151.
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R25405151
Sources Used
- Murphy, W. (1966). 2nd New Zealand Divisional Artillery. Wellington, Dept. of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
- References
- Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 4 (Embarkations from 1st April, 1941 to 30 June, 1941). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
WW2 4: WW2 157 - Henderson, Stanley Miller. Papers relating to World War II servicemen Arthur and Stanley Henderson, 1939 - 1944. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 2004/49.
- Henderson, James Herbert. Papers. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 1277
- Henderson, James Herbert. Papers, 1975 - 1976. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 839.
- Murphy, W.E. (1961). The relief of Tobruk. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
Murphy, W. (1966). p. 273 - The New Zealand Herald
Gunner's exorcism an enduring theatre of war. (2004, April 24-25). New Zealand Herald, p. A7. - Information kindly provided by family
- Prisoners of War 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force - Repatriated Medically Unfit Protected Personnel [WW2 POW Medically Unfit], 1943 [1946], Archives New Zealand, Wellington, AAAA 7393/1/v (R25405151)
- Nominal rolls - Embarkation rolls B-force 8th infantry brigade group [New Zealand Military Forces - "B" Force - Embarkation Roll]. Archives New Zealand, Wellington, AAYS 8638 AD1/1421 (R22440171)
- Gillespie, O. (1952). The Pacific. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
- Mason, W.W. (1954) Prisoners of war. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
- Henderson, J. (1945). Gunner inglorious. Wellington, N.Z.: Harry H. Tombs.
- Joint Council of the Order of St. John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society. Prisoners of War Enquiry Office. (1941–1944). The New Zealand prisoner of war pamphlet: Official pamphlet of the Prisoners of War Enquiry Office of the Joint Council of the Order of St. John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society. Wellington, New Zealand.
No. 7, November 1942, p.11
- Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 4 (Embarkations from 1st April, 1941 to 30 June, 1941). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
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