Arthur John D'Arcy Heeney
Born 1916 - Died 19 Dec 1941
- Service number
- 31 AWMM
- WWII RN(NZ)31 AWMM
- Also known as
- Darcy HeeneyPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - Research
- Armed force / branch
- Navy AWMM
- Last rank
- WW2 Engine Room Artificer/Military AWMM Royal New Zealand Navy AWMM
- War
- World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
About
- Title
- Engine Room Artificer 4th ClassPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/arthur-john-darcy-heeney
- Forenames
- Arthur John D'Arcy AWMM
- Surname
- Heeney AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- Darcy HeeneyPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - Research
- Service number
- 31 AWMM
- WWII RN(NZ)31 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- MalePublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - Research
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM
- Ngāti Awa, Ngā Iwi o Ara Tāwhao, Ara Tāwhao, Waka o Ngā Iwi, Ngā Iwi, Māori AWMM
- Religion
- Roman CatholicPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 30 August 2015 - Research
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 1916 Public Source
- Date of birth
- 1916Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/arthur-john-darcy-heeney and Research
- Place of birth
- —
- Birth notes
- the son of John (Jack) and Greta Heeney (nee White) of GisbornePublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/arthur-john-darcy-heeney and Research
- Address before enlistment
- GisbornePublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/arthur-john-darcy-heeney and Research
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- —
- Relationship status
- singlePublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/arthur-john-darcy-heeney and Research
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
- Campaign
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Navy AWMM
- Service number
- 31 AWMM
- WWII RN(NZ)31 AWMM
- Military service
- Royal New Zealand Navy, attached Royal Navy AWMM
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
- —
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- —
- Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
- Boxer (welterweight division) who represented NZ at the Empire Games in 1938Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/arthur-john-darcy-heeney and Research
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW2 Royal New Zealand Navy AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- —
- Days interned
- —
- Liberation date
- —
- POW liberation details
- —
- Liberation Repatriation
- —
- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW2 Engine Room Artificer/Military AWMM
Royal New Zealand Navy AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Arthur Heeney was the son of John and Greta Heeney (nee White) of Gisborne, Auckland. He died when his ship, HMS Neptune, hit several mines in the sea off Tripoli and sank in December 1941.
132 New Zealand ratings went missing as a result of the loss of H.M.S. Neptune. HMS Neptune was launched at Portsmouth on 31 January 1933. She was one of five 'Leander' class light cruisers completed between 1933 and 1935. Two others were HMS Achilles and Leander serving in the RNZN. They displaced 7,200 tons, could make 32 knots and carried eight 6 inch guns and 550 crew. The Neptune was in the Mediterranean from 1 December 1941 as part of Force K which was searching for Axis shipping, especially those taking supplies to Rommel in North Africa. Early on the 19th the ships of Force K ran into a minefield.The Neptune hit three or four mines and sank with only one survivor. At the same time the Aurora was badly damaged and Penelope slightly.Trying to reach Neptune to assist, the destroyer Kandahar was mined and had to be scuttled the following day. On the same day in Alexandria harbour the Queen Elizabeth with Admiral Cunningham on board and the Valiant were both badly damaged and sank.The Mediterranean Fleet battle squadron ceased to exist. Of the total crew of 766 there was only one survivor.He was rescued off a raft five days later by an Italian destroyer and spent the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp. AWMM - The sinking of the Neptune.
HMS Neptune, a Leander Class Cruiser, had seen service in the South Atlantic during 1939 and the Mediterranean and East Indies in 1940. Early in 1941, New Zealand agreed to partly man Neptune and 150 New Zealanders joined her in May of that year. The intention was for Neptune to sail for the New Zealand station and stand in for HMS Leander, which was to stay on overseas service.
HMS Neptune under the Command of Captain Rory O’Conor sailed from Malta at high speed on the evening of 18 December 1941, in the company of six destroyers, to seek out the Italian Battleship force, which had been sighted by aerial reconnaissance about half - way between Malta and Benghazi.
In the early morning of 19 December 1941 the force was about twenty miles from Tripoli when Neptune, which was leading, struck the first mine. Going full astern she hit another mine wrecking her propellers and steering gear, bringing the ship to a standstill. A minute or so later she exploded a third mine and took a heavy list to port. At about 0400, the Neptune set off a fourth mine, then quickly rolled over and sank. The order was given to abandon ship. A heavy sea was running and the men had to go overboard, death came quickly to many of her company, many perished as they tried to swim to safety.
Only sixteen men of the ship’s company survived the sinking and were left afloat on a raft when daylight came. All but one of the survivors succumbed to thirst and exhaustion during the next six days. The sole survivor, Leading Seaman Norman Walton of the Royal Navy, was rescued by an Italian ship and was interned as a prisoner of war
Neptune was deployed into the eastern Mediterranean for operations between Malta and Egypt and off the North African coast in July 1941. The 764 men including the 150 New Zealanders died when she sank in the early hours of 19th December 1941.
The names of two officers and 148 ratings furnished, by far, the longest list of casualties in the war record of the Royal New Zealand Navy.Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 29 August 2015 - http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/arthur-john-darcy-heeney
- Arthur Heeney was the son of John and Greta Heeney (nee White) of Gisborne, Auckland. He died when his ship, HMS Neptune, hit several mines in the sea off Tripoli and sank in December 1941.
About death
- Death
- 19 Dec 1941 AWMM
Age 25 AWMM - Date of death
- —
- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Killed in Action AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- —
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- Previously Reported Missing—-Death now presumed as from December 19, 1941
Heeney, Acting Engine-Room Artificer, Fourth Class, Arthur J. Father: Mr. J. H. Heeney, 237 Wainui road, GisbornePublic - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 6 July 2023 - PRESUMED DEAD
GISBORNE HERALD, VOLUME LXIX, ISSUE 20832, 10 JULY 1942, PAGE 2 - Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- New Zealand Naval Memorial, Devonport Naval Base, HMNZS Philomel, Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories AWMM
- Gisborne First World War Memorial, The Esplanade, Kaiti, Gisborne AWMM
Related objects
Sources
- External links
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2563947
Sources Used - Record Book of Naval Personnel - c.1920-1945 - Lists Navy number, alphabetical list of names of ratings trained in England, numerical lists of officers. Archives New Zealand, R21346617, AAYT 8495 N12
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R21346617
Further Reference
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
- References
- Record Book of Naval Personnel - c.1920-1945 - Lists Navy number, alphabetical list of names of ratings trained in England, numerical lists of officers. Archives New Zealand, R21346617, AAYT 8495 N12
- Auckland Museum. Roll of Honour, Auckland Province, 1939 - 1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 93/139.
The development of the Online Cenotaph is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.
Online Cenotaph Data by Auckland War Memorial Museum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.