Henry Joseph Meharry

Forenames

Henry Joseph AWMM

Surname

Meharry AWMM

Also known as

• Jake AWMM
• Jack AWMM

Service number

• WWII NZ41992 AWMM
• WWII 41992 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Birth

6 Jul 1917 RNZAF Biographies (R17845613)

Next of kin

• Mr D.K. Meharry (father), 54 Pleasant Street, Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
• WW2 Parents: Mr. & Mrs. D. K. Meharry of Onehunga AWMM

Relationship status

Single/WWII AWMM

War

World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Campaign

Europe (Air) AWMM

Armed force / branch

Air Force AWMM

Service number

• WWII NZ41992 AWMM
• WWII 41992 AWMM

Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers

• Royal Air Force, No. 488 (NZ) Squadron AWMM
• Royal Air Force, No. 14 Squadron AWMM
• Royal Air Force, No. 64 Squadron AWMM

Embarkation details

WW2 Royal New Zealand Air Force AWMM

Medical notes

Killed on Active Service, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

Flight Lieutenant/Military AWMM
Royal Air Force, No. 64 Squadron AWMM

Henry Meharry was the son of David Kennedy Meharry and Winifred Gwendoline Meharry, of Reefton, New Zealand.

Remembered on the Takapuna War Memorial, The Strand, Takapuna.

Next of kin details compiled from information in the Casualty lists published in the newspapers.

Attended Takapuna Grammar School (Source: RNZAF Biographies (R17845613)) AWMM

Death

5 Aug 1944 AWMM
Age  27 AWMM

Place of death

Lézardrieux, Brittany

Public - Alexander James - 27 May 2016 - Serge Tilly, Comité pour l'Étude de la Résistance Populaire dans les Côtes-du-Nord
http://cerp22.free.fr/Lieuxdememoire22/Lezardrieux/Lezardrieux%20Capitaine%20Meharry/1.html

Cause of death

Killed on Active Service AWMM

Death notes

Piloted Spitfire attacking German minesweepers of the 46th fleet. Flying at low altitude, under fire from coastal batteries and anti-aircraft guns on the ships, the plane crashed in the Trieux River near the Lost Mor (Coat Mor) beacon. Body found on 17 Aug. near the tide mill on the river. A second Spitfire was also hit but managed to fly offshore where the pilot bailed out and was recovered by a Royal Navy vessel.
Initially Meharry's body was not identified. He was buried in the municipal cemetery, along with French Resistance fighters killed in action while trying to clear roads to enable US tanks to advance. His body was subsequently exhumed and reinterred in the US military cemetery at Saint James, Brittany. After identification, he was reinterred in the Commonwealth cemetery in Hottot les Bagues, Normandy, where he lies just two rows away from Brigadier James Hargest. The information about the circumstances of his death and burial is from French website http://cerp22.free.fr/Lieuxdememoire22/Lezardrieux/Lezardrieux%20Capitaine%20Meharry/2.html which includes photos of a memorial erected in his honour.
The French text concludes "He died for our freedom".

Public - Alexander James - 27 May 2016 - Serge Tilly, Comité pour l'Étude de la Résistance Populaire dans les Côtes-du-Nord
http://cerp22.free.fr/Lieuxdememoire22/Lezardrieux/Lezardrieux%20Capitaine%20Meharry/1.html

Cemetery

Hottot-Les-Bagues War Cemetery, Calvados, France AWMM I. A. 2. AWMM

Memorial name

Square du Souvenir, behind church, Lézardrieux

Public - Alexander James - 27 May 2016 - Serge Tilly, Comité pour l'Étude de la Résistance Populaire dans les Côtes-du-Nord
http://cerp22.free.fr/Lieuxdememoire22/Lezardrieux/Lezardrieux%20Capitaine%20Meharry/1.html

Memorial name

• Onehunga War Memorial Swimming Pool, Jellicoe Park (off Quadrant Road), Park Gardens, Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
• Takapuna War Memorial, The Strand, Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
• Takapuna War Memorial, (ex RSA Roll, on a boulder), The Strand, Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
• Takapuna Grammar School War Memorial, (Foyer, Library), 210 Lake Road, Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
• Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories AWMM

Related objects

External links

• Papers Past. Digital New Zealand Newspapers.
  http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast
  Sources Used
• Roll of Honour. Air casualties. Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 69, 19 September 1944, Page 6
  http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19440919.2.76&srpos
  Further Reference
• Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand History online. Takapuna War Memorial.
  https://nzhistory.govt.nz/memorial/takapuna-war-memorial
  Further Reference
• Takapuna Grammar School virtual tour
  http://www.takapuna.school.nz/about/virtual-tour/
  Further Reference
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
  https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2339065
  Sources Used
• RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939 - 1945 (Bound Volumes) - Ma - McW. Archives New Zealand (R17845613)
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R17845613
  Sources Used
• List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. Archives New Zealand (R17845745)
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R17845745
  Sources Used
• New Zealand War Graves Trust
  https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/
  Further Reference

References

• The Evening Post
• Martyn, E. (1998-2008). For Your Tomorrow (Vols. 1-3). Christchurch, N.Z.: Volplane Press.
• RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939 - 1945 (Bound Volumes) - Ma - McW. Archives New Zealand (R17845613) - Former archives reference: AIR118
• Please note that the 11 volumes of the "RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939-1945" held at Archives NZ (formerly known as AIR118) should be used in conjunction with Errol Martyn's "For Your Tomorrow". FYT reflects detailed examination of all of the AIR118 bios which contain many inaccuracies and omissions.
• List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. [List of Missing - United Kingdom, Airmen]. Archives New Zealand (R17845745)
• List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - Embarkation Lists, November 1940 - July 1942. Archives New Zealand, Wellington (R17845762).
• Royal New Zealand Air Force. (1941–1945). Contact: National magazine of the R.N.Z.A.F.; the official organ of the Air Force Association (Inc.). Levin, New Zealand: Royal New Zealand Air Force.
  V4,n4,p79
• Auckland Museum. Roll of Honour, Auckland Province, 1939 - 1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 93/139.