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Cenotaph record

Neil Hyland Svendsen

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Portrait from The Weekly News; 16 July 1941when he was reported missing on operations - This image may be subject to copyright

Portrait from The Weekly News; 16 July 1941when he was reported missing on operations - This image m …

Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Neil Hyland AWMM
  • Surname
    Svendsen AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
    • WWII NZ40327 AWMM
    • WWII 40327 AWMM
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion
    Church of England, Christian AWMM

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    27 January 1915 AWMM AWMM
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
    WW2 Pre Jul 1937 AWMM Grey Street, Pukekohe, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
  • Post war occupation
    Dairy manager/Civilian AWMM
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    WW2 Mr Herbert Neil Svendsen (father) AWMM
  • Relationship status
    Pre 1937 AWMM Single/WWII AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Military decorations

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
    • 4 years in territorials AWMM
    • Elementary Training School, Ansty, England, September-November 1937 AWMM
    • No.10 RAF Flying Training School, Tern Hill, Shropshire, December 1937-June 1938 AWMM
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    Inter War Jul 1937 AWMM
    Age 22 AWMM
    Dairy farmer/Civilian AWMM
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
    • WW2
      Duren, Germany AWMM
      30 Jun 1941-May 1945 AWMM
      Capture details: On the night of June 30th 1941 , Neil Svendsen and his crew were flying their Hampden on a bombing raid to Dusseldorf, Germany to make an attack on the industrial area. They had not reached their target nor dropped any bombs when they were hit in the starboard engine by anti-aircraft fire from the ground. The plane went into a spin but they managed to pull out of it and recover. However, on deciding the aircraft was too badly damaged to return safely to England , Neil called his crew up and told them to bail out and parachute to the ground. Because his navigator did not answer, Neil thought that he exited already via the trapdoor. It was not until later, when he met up with the wireless operator in one of the prison camps, that he learned that the navigator had been killed, possibly by the anti-aircraft fire. After he landed by parachute in German territory, Neil spent the rest of the night hiding in a cornfield. However, the next day while he was walking through a village, he was stopped and questioned by two policemen who were sitting outside the local police station. When they discovered that he was a foreign airman, he was sent to Dulag Luft, the first of several prisoner-of-war camps in which he spent the duration of the war. AWMM
    • WW2 POW - Dulag Luft III, Germany AWMM
      Jul 1941 AWMM
    • WW2 POW - Oflag VI-B, Königstein, Germany AWMM
    • WW2 POW - Schubin Poland, Poland AWMM
    • WW2 POW - Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany AWMM
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
    WW2 1 May 1945 AWMM
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number
    WWII 1387 AWMM

Medical history

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  • Medical notes
    Died of Disease, Cause of Death AWMM
    Stroke AWMM

Last known rank

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Biographical information

Biographical information

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  • Bombing operations on targets in Germany and France.

    Mine laying in the North Sea.

    First Bombing raid on Berlin, August 25, 1940

    Member of the 'Goldfish Club'. Flight Lieutenant Svendsen, was on the first bombing raid of Berlin, on a direct route from Scampton. Engine failure due to a lack of fuel, cause the crew to ditch in 'The Wash' they spent approximately 20 minutes in the water before being taken on board an RN Escort Vessel, escorting Trinity House Vessel Laying Buoys (Goldfish Club).

    Mrs Florence, daughter of Neil Hyland Svendsen (RAF 40327) a POW in Stalag Luft 3, visited Poland in 1996 with her family. Her photographs on this Cenotaph record, relate to the experience and remembrance of the POWs in Stalag Luft 3.

    Auckland Museum Armoury Resource Centre, Vertical File - Transcript of an interview with Neil Hyland Svendsen's recounting his experiences in German Prisoner of War Camps AWMM
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    14 March 2003 AWMM
    Age 88 AWMM
    Herne Bay, Auckland AWMM
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
    Died of Disease AWMM
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
    Papakura Public Cemetery, Great South Road and Settlement Road, Papakura, New Zealand AWMM RSA Section AWMM
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
    New Zealand Herald, 17 March 2003 AWMM
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name
    Hamilton Memorial Park, Memorial Drive, Hamilton East 3216 AWMM

Roll of Honour

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Sources

Sources

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  • External links
  • References
    • Chorley, W. (1992). Royal Air Force Bomber Command losses of the Second World War: Aircraft and crews lost during 1939-1940 (Vol. 1). Leicester, England: Midland Counties Publications. AWMM
    • Thompson, H. (1956). New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force (Vols. 1-3). Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch. AWMM
    • McQuaid, P. (Ed.) (1995). Wartime memories : stories from our men, women and children in World War II. Auckland, N.Z.: Dolphin Publications. AWMM
    • Chorley, W. (1992). Royal Air Force Bomber Command losses of the Second World War: Aircraft and crews lost during 1939-1940 (Vol. 1). Leicester, England: Midland Counties Publications. AWMM
      vol 1 p. 103 - crash landed in The Wash AWMM
    • Chorley, W. (1993). Royal Air Force Bomber Command losses of the Second World War: Aircraft and crew losses 1941 (Vol. 2). Leicester, England: Midland Counties Publications. AWMM
      vol 2 p. 79 - shot down over Germany AWMM
    • McQuaid, P. (Ed.) (1995). Wartime memories : stories from our men, women and children in World War II. Auckland, N.Z.: Dolphin Publications. AWMM
      p. 56 AWMM
    • The New Zealand Herald AWMM
      New Zealand Herald, 17 March 2003 AWMM
    • Goldfish Club, New Zealand Branch. The Goldfish Club: Roll of Honour 1954 - 2003. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2004/32. AWMM
    • Information kindly provided by family AWMM

The development of the Online Cenotaph is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.

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