Work in progress
Previous | Contents | Next § Cliff wrote an obituary when his Dad died in 1980, which the Advocate printed in abbreviated form. John was born in 1897, and his father William, who was also a miner — as was his grandfather — died when young John was only 15. That meant he, ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Jack and Annie were mortified when Bob and Evelyn decided to separate the two properties by building a carport and fence on their side of the boundary, and when Heather and I visited later they were fretting about what might have gone wrong with the relationship. The answer was ... Read more
Previous | Contents | The mine at which the tragedy occurred was taken over on Monday by Mr. William Ackers, father of the deceased, from the Hikurangi Coal Company, Ltd., which was to take the supplies of coal from it. The mine is situated on a hill at Waro and was commenced over ... Read more
§ If you have feedback, corrections, photos, or can help fill in the gaps on these family pages, please email or let me know in the comments — thanks! I probably haven’t been consistent, but by and large I’ve called the women by their “maiden” names — e.g. Dorothy McCarroll, ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next You entered the dining room proper from behind the kitchen — open fire; coal bucket, shovel and poker; concrete hearth with easy chairs either side; couch under the window; dark stained wooden table and chairs in the centre of the room; china cabinet opposite the fire. There was a ... Read more
Last Anzac Day my nephew Peter asked me if there was any way he could access his grandfather’s war stories to read to his kids. I had to disappoint him but said I was working at publishing them online. Well, it took the best part of a year but, finally, ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Ten days later Cliff was back in Camp again. “My dear Dorothy,” he wrote. “Hello my dear, how are you now? To be frank with you, I’m as cheerful as a funeral. I miss you terribly, sweetheart. “Thank God that we can at least write to ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Now he was in the Army he was unsure what he’d like to do, assuming he had any choice. It looked like it might be hard to get into Signals — he knew a Postmaster who’d tried and failed. The motor cycle platoon would be interesting ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next There was little more than a year between Cliff’s leaving Hikurangi and his sailing for the Middle East in 2 NZEF. During that year he’d met, fallen in love with and been engaged to nineteen year-old Dorothy McCarroll. In the following chapters I’ve tried, through ... Read more