Work in progress
There’s a scene near the end of Dr Zhivago (the movie) where the sick Zhivago sees Lara, his lost love, walking down the street as the tram he’s on passes her by. He struggles to get off and catch up with her but collapses and dies. She walks on. We’ve ... Read more
Previous |Contents | NextSunday 6 September. A spectacular dog fight this morning. Eight planes down today, four of ours and four German. I walked over to inspect some wreckage. The plane had been in a dive and failed to come out of it. Previous |Contents | NextSunday 6 September. A spectacular dog ... Read more
Previous |Contents | Next Montgomery had taken command of 8th Army on 7 August, and things were changing. § Wednesday 19th August . Most of our Base Wallahs have been roped in as reinforcements, to our great satisfaction. We’ve heard that Churchill has been in Cairo and sacked six generals including Auchinleck. ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Some of the following is in the first person, written by Cliff, some in the third person, written by me based on his notes. ~ Ian. It was more than two months before Cliff was passed fit for duty. After arriving in hospital his condition ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Some of the following is in the first person, written by Cliff, the rest, in the third person, by me ~ Ian Out of hospital The time came for Popeye and Ben to go home, and we decided on a party. John Mcllroy had smuggled in ... 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
Contents • 1930–35: Dairy farming in the depression• 1936: Coal mining• 1936–41: God, Dorothy and the coming war• 1941–45: At War You’ll find more about this project and my role in it here. I expect to add additional pages over time, as well as images, cross-links etc. Comments and contributions ... 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
Previous | Contents | Next In September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland. According to Cliff’s diary, by the time he moved to Paparoa in March 1940 6,000 New Zealand men had enlisted for service overseas and wartime rationing had begun. Although he was still working for the Post Office and Telegraph ... Read more