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Cenotaph record

Edward Courtney Thorne

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Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Edward Courtney AWMM
  • Surname
    Thorne AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
    Ted AWMM
  • Service number
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    29 October 1923 Taylor Taylor
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
  • Relationship status

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    WW2 1941 Taylor
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes

Last known rank

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Biographical information

Biographical information

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  • Served with the Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and North Sea in the Second World War. Chief of Naval Staff 1972 - 75. Chairman of New Zealand Fire Service Commission 1977 - 88. Source: Taylor, New Zealand Roll of Honour, p.1058.

    Attended Rongotai College, Nelson College and Royal Naval College Dartmouth.

    "As a communications specialist, Ted was appointed to command HMNZS Irirangi, the naval radio station at Waiouru. He was in command on Christmas Eve 1953 when the railway bridge at Tangiwai was washed away, causing the night express to crash, killing some 150 people. Irirangi personnel under Ted’s leadership played a key part in the recovery of the bodies, while they also restored communications in time for the Queen’s Christmas message to be broadcast through Irirangi’s transmitters." Navy Museum

    Son of Ernest Thorne and Ethel Thorne (nee Thompson). Husband of Fay (nee Kerr), father of Anthony, Peter, Richard. AWMM
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    23 October 2013 AWMM
    Age 89 AWMM
    AWMM
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
    Plot 174, Block B, Public Lawn, Russell Cemetery, Russell, Northland AWMM
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
    Death Notice: New Zealand Herald AWMM
  • 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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