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Cenotaph record

John Herbert Ledgerwood

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Group of POWs in Stalag XVIIIA, Germany, December 1941, received in New Zealand in January 1942. Vincent Hayes is third from the left in the front row. He is believed to have been the oldest in the group. The others in the photograph have not been identified. - This image may be subject to copyright

Group of POWs in Stalag XVIIIA, Germany, December 1941, received in New Zealand in January 1942. Vin …

Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    John Herbert AWMM
  • Surname
    Ledgerwood AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
    2104 AWMM
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    14 April 1908 AWMM Dunedin, Otago AWMM
    Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
    Unknown AWMM 144A George Street, Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    Mrs J.H. Ledgerwood (mother), 144A George Street, Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
  • Relationship status
    Pre 5 January 1940 AWMM Single AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Military decorations

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  • Medals and Awards
    • Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) AWMM
      "Mr Ledgerwood was one of three secretaries selected from YMCA peace-time staff to leave New Zealand with the First Echelon. His personality, his sincerity as a Christian, his special gifts as a musician, lecturer, and entertainer, and his tremendous capacity for work personally made him an outstanding welfare secretary. On board ship, and during the early desert campaign and in Greece he was attached to 19 Battalion. He was known personally by hundreds of men in other units too; he had a great capacity for friendship. In the desert he pioneered in activities that have since become special features of 2 NZ Division welfare - he was the link between the isolated unit and the outside world. His was the first mobile canteen in the Western Desert, running back to Alexandria for stock which he delivered in the front line when necessary, with no concern for his personal safety. On this he carried a piano to entertain men wherever he found them. He made himself responsible for the purchase and despatch of soldier's presents for their first Christmas overseas. Despite great difficulties Mr Ledgerwood went forward with 4 NZ Infantry Brigade in Greece and exercised great ingenuity in the securing and delivering of supplies. Later in Crete, he mad to all troops on his side of the island, prior to the paratroops landing and his own capture. Mr Ledgerwood's best work was done as a YMCA secretary in the Prisoner of War Camps in Germany. His organising ability brought him administrative duties outside the usual functions of a welfare officer. Interrogation reports of ex-Prisoners of War make it evident that John Ledgerwood was one of the outstanding figures in Prisoner of War Camps." Beattie and Pomeroy, p. 171 AWMM
    • Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) AWMM
    • War Medal 1939-1945 AWMM
    • New Zealand War Service Medal AWMM

Training and Enlistment

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Embarkations

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Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
    • WW2 POW - Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg, Austria AWMM
      1 June 1941 AWMM
    • WW2 POW - Crete List of 2NZEF POW (MS 2009/8)
      Crete, Greece List of 2NZEF POW (MS 2009/8)
    • WW2 POW - Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg, Austria 2NZEF, Germany and German occupied territories : imperial prisoners of war alphabetical list : section 4. N.Z. 1945.
      2NZEF, Germany and German occupied territories : imperial prisoners of war alphabetical list : section 4. N.Z. 1945.
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
    WW2 Escaped or evaded capture. Date Interrogated: 25.5.1945. W O Forms completed. AWMM
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes

Last known rank

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  • Last rank

Biographical information

Biographical information

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  • Awarded the MBE for services in the prisoner of war camp Stalag XVIIIA AWMM

Death

About death

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  • Death
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name

Roll of Honour

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Sources

Sources

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  • External links
  • References
    • Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 1 (Embarkations to 31st March, 1940). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer. AWMM
      WW2 1: WW2 102 AWMM
    • List of 2NZEF Prisoners of War. 1941-1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 2009/8. AWMM
    • Great Britain Army. (1945). Germany and German occupied territories : imperial prisoners of war alphabetical list : section 4. London, U.K.: Government Printer. AWMM
    • Sinclair, D. (1954). 19 Battalion and Armoured Regiment. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch. AWMM
    • Beattie, P.J. and Pomeroy, M.J. (2016). Gallant Acts and Noble Deeds: New Zealand army honours and awards for the Second World War. Auckland, N.Z.: Fair Dinkum Publications.; P.J. Beattie and M.J. Pomeroy, 2016. AWMM
      p. 171 AWMM
    • Nominal Roll of NZ Escapees and Evaders - 1 New Zealand Interrogation Section Book 1, Archives New Zealand, Wellington, AAAA 7393 (R25405144) AWMM

Contributors

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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
14 September 2017IanBebington, UKResearcher

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