Arthur Clarence Heenan

I whānau mai i te 26 Sept 1920 - I mate atu i te 15 Oct 1942

Nama Hōia: WWII 3/3/382 AWMM
WWII 148324 AWMM
Ingoa kārangaranga: —
Te Ope o Tū / te peka: Army AWMM
Te tūnga whakamutunga: WW2 Corporal/Military AWMM Signals Corps, New Zealand Coastwatchers AWMM
Pakanga: World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Mātātuhi

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Arthur Clarence Heenan — Portrait, Arthur Heenan - This image may be subject to copyright

Whakaatu mai ngā āpure e wātea ana Hunaia ngā mātāwai kōrero

Ngā pakanga me ngā whawhai

Pakanga: World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
Kauhanga riri: Pacific Theatre of War AWMM
Te Ope o Tū / te peka: Army AWMM
Nama Hōia: WWII 3/3/382 AWMM
WWII 148324 AWMM
Urunga ki te ope taua: Southland Regiment. 1 Battalion AWMM
Coastwatcher AWMM
Whakapikinga / Tukunga / Whakawhitinga: —

Ngā tohu taumata rau ope taua

Mētara me ngā Tohu: Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) AWMM
08 Nov 1945 AWMM
MiD. The London Gazette, 8 November 1945. "Posthumous mention in dispatches for exemplary conduct in coastwatching and communication duties in the Gilbert Island area in the face of the enemy, in spite of overwhelming odds and the knowledge that relief or escape was impossible, is awarded to the following: ..... Corporal Heenan, Arthur C." AWMM

Te Whakangungu me te Urunga atu

Whakangungu ope taua: Forbury Park AWMM
Burnham AWMM
Branch Trade Proficiency: —
Te urunga: WW2 Unknown AWMM
Age 20 AWMM
Telegraphist/Civilian AWMM
Pakeke i te whakaurunga: —
Mahi i mua i te ekenga waka: —

Te maha o ngā ekenga waka

Taipitopito ekenga waka: WW2 Vessel was Matua AWMM New Zealand Coastwatchers AWMM Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force AWMM
WW2 Vessel was HMFS Viti AWMM New Zealand Coastwatchers AWMM Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force AWMM
2nd Embarkation AWMM

Mauhere o te pakanga

Kia mau ki ngā taipitopito: WW2
Ngā rā i mauherehia ai: —
Rā i puta ai: —
Ngā kōrero mō te puta i te mauhere pakanga: —
Te rā i whakahokia atu ngā hōia i mauherehia ai: —
Nama motuhake mō te mauhere pakanga: —

Whakapapa hauora

Tuhinga hauora: Killed or died while a Prisoner of War, Cause of Death AWMM
Executed by Japanese whilst a prisoner of war AWMM

Te tūnga whakamutunga e mōhiotia ana

Te tūnga whakamutunga: WW2 Corporal/Military AWMM
Signals Corps, New Zealand Coastwatchers AWMM
Te tūnga whakamutunga: —

Kōrero taurongo

Arthur Heenan was the son of Edward Percy and Martha Mcqueen Heenan, of Middlemarch, Otago, New Zealand.

Arthur Heenan was a radio operator (Coastwatchers) in the Pacific Islands and beheaded by Japanese. Served as a Coastwatcher on Maiana as part of the Gilbert Group.

Not listed on the Nominal Roll. From 1941 until the cessation of hostilities New Zealand coastwatchers maintained a lonely vigil on islands scattered over sixteen million square miles of the Pacific Ocean. The work was often monotonous and unspectacular but vital to the intelligence information for troops in the Pacific region. The Coastwatching service was primarily the responsibility of the Navy the majority of those engaged in it were drawn from the Army and the Post and Telegraph Department which supplied the necessary qualified radio operators. Arthur Heenan was amongst those newly trained P & T radio operators to arrive in Suva in July 1941. A group of 22 soldiers were selected to accompany the radio operators to 11 of the islands where there were no other European residents. The soldiers on this mission had all volunteered and were selected on the basis of maturity and suitability for life on isolated islands. Mr Heenan was stationed on Maiana Island, part of the Gilbert Group. The nearest enemy held territory was the Marshall Islands to the north. It was clearly one of the first objectives of the Japanese assault to occupy the islands to the south and capture the means of communication they afforded the Allies. Those stationed in the Gilbert Islands were the only ones to be captured by the Japanese. Of those captured 22 were killed (as was Mr Heenan), others were imprisoned in Japan until the end of the war. On 25 September 1942 Arthur Heenan sent his last message which was: "Japanese coming. Regards to all." After this nothing further was transmitted. Heenan and the two soldiers who accompanied him (Private C.J. Owen and Private L.B. Speedy) concealed themselves in the jungle but were captured later. Heenan and 16 other soldiers and operators captured by the Japanese from other islands were taken to Tarawa Island. There, together with several European inhabitants of the island, they were treated with callous indifference. They were tied to coconut palms with telephone wire for three days while awaiting examination by their captors and later confined to a hospital building usually reserved for insane patients. They were forced to work on the Betio wharf. It appears that following a bombardment by a US warship and two aircraft on 15 October 1942 the Japanese rounded up 22 Europeans and beheaded them. An inquiry into the killing in October 1944 heard evidence that during the bombardment a prisoner reportedly escaped and waved to the aircraft. It was presumed that the Japanese killings were in retaliation for this action. The fate of the radio operators and soldiers was not know nor were the details released until this inquiry. Efforts to find the burial places proved fruitless and a monument was erected at Betio. The inscription reads:

"In memory of 22 British subjects murdered by the Japanese at Betio on the 15 October 1942. Standing unarmed to their posts they matched brutality with gallantry and met death with fortitude.". Recognition of their service came in the form of appointments to the armed services on 9 December 1941 (this fact and their rank were unknown to the operators when they died). The Prime Minister paid tribute to their courage and devotion to duty when it was disclosed in December 1943 that they were "missing - believed killed". AWMM

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Arthur Clarence Heenan

Arthur Clarence Heenan

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