Eruera Dennis Hamon

Forenames

Eruera Dennis AWMM

Surname

Hamon AWMM

Service number

39202 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe

• Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM
• Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngā Iwi o Horouta, Horouta, Waka o Ngā Iwi, Ngā Iwi, Māori AWMM

Religion

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints AWMM

Birth

8 Feb 1920 AWMM

Birth notes

son of Henare (Henry) HAMON & Riria (Lydia) Maria Sawyers

Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 31 October 2015 - Research

Address before enlistment

Pre 30 Dec 1939 AWMM 10 Waverley Street, Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM

Next of kin

Mr Henare Hamon (father), 10 Waverley Street, Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM

Relationship status

Pre 01 May 1940 AWMM Single AWMM

War

World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Campaign

Western Desert AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

39202 AWMM

Medals and Awards

• 1939-1945 Star AWMM
• Africa Star AWMM
• Defence Medal AWMM
• War Medal 1939-1945 AWMM
• New Zealand War Service Medal AWMM

Enlistment

WW2 30 Dec 1939 AWMM
Age  19 AWMM
Labourer/Civilian AWMM

Embarkation details

WW2 Private AWMM 28 (Maori) Battalion, C Company AWMM Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Second Echelon AWMM

Medical notes

• Height, Unknown Period AWMM
  5 foot 11 inches AWMM
• Complexion, Unknown Period AWMM
  half caste AWMM
• Hair colour, Unknown Period AWMM
  Black AWMM
• Eye colour, Unknown Period AWMM
  brown AWMM
• Died of wounds, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

Private AWMM
28 (Maori) Battalion, C Company AWMM

Eruera Hamon was the son of Henare Hamon and Riria Hamon (nee Sawyer) of Gisborne, New Zealand.

Entered Camp 26 January 1940, embarked 1 May 1940 for Scotland, and arrived in Egypt 4 March 1941.

Wounded in action between 18 and 30 November 1941.

He sketched "The Spirit of the Bayonet" as part of a 2 NZEF art competition. A copy is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Armoury file. Changed birthdate to enlist, 8 February 1918 is incorrect. 28 (Maori) Battalion, Main Body. AWMM

Death

30 Nov 1941 AWMM
Age  21 AWMM

Cause of death

Died of wounds AWMM

Cemetery

Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery, Egypt AWMM 9.H.6 AWMM

Obituary

Advice was received by Mr. Henry Hamon, Waverly street, Gisborne, on Monday, that his son Eruera (Dennis) Hamon, died of wounds on November 30. Private Hamon enlisted at the age of 19 and before leaving for overseas with the main body of the Maori Battalion, was an employee of the Gisborne Refrigerating Company. He was connected with station 2ZM, and prior to his enlistment, acted as announcer for the Hawaiian session. He was a keen follower of sport, particularly boxing, at which lie showed great promise. Private Hamon was wounded in both the Greece and Cretan campaigns and again in Libya, from which wounds lie eventually died. He was very popular with his company.

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 29 April 2023 - GISBORNE HERALD, VOLUME LXIX, ISSUE 20669, 21 JANUARY 1942, PAGE 4

Memorial name

Gisborne War Memorial

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 29 April 2023 - https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/gisborne-region-first-world-war-memorial

Memorial name

• Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories AWMM
• Gisborne First World War Memorial, The Esplanade, Kaiti, Gisborne AWMM

Related objects

External links

• 28th Maori Battalion Website 1941-1945. Headstone image and biographical details
  http://www.28maoribattalion.org.nz/photo/eruera-dennis-hamons-grave#comment-202
  Further Reference
• Cody, J. (1956). 28 (Maori) Battalion. Wellington: Dept. of Internal Affairs, War History Branch. Digital copy.
  https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20210104000423/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Maor.html
  Further Reference
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
  https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2116247
  Sources Used
• "The Spirit of the Bayonet" by Pte Eruera Dennis Hamon - C Company 1941
  https://28maoribattalion.org.nz/photo/spirit-bayonet-pte-eruera-dennis-hamon-c-company-1941
  Further Reference

References

• Information kindly provided by family
• Auckland Museum. Roll of Honour, Auckland Province, 1939 - 1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 93/139.
• Cody, J. (1956). 28 (Maori) Battalion. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
• Soutar, M. (2008). Nga tama toa = The price of citizenship : C Company 28 (Maori) Battalion 1939-1945. Albany, N.Z.: David Bateman.
  Portrait published in Soutar (2008)
• Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 2 (Embarkations to 30th June, 1940). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
  WW2 2: WW2 78
• Murphy, W.E. (1961). The relief of Tobruk. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.