Last crewman of the HMS Leander dies

A World War II veteran and the last-known crew member from New Zealand’s famous warship, the HMS Leander, has died.

Aged 97, Desmond ‘‘Des’’ Price died in Auckland on October 4, 2017. His funeral was held at the Devonport Naval Base last week.

At the service, Price’s daughter Jan Johnstone spoke of her father’s remarkable life, both during the Navy and the years that followed.

Price was born February 22, 1920. At 18 he signed up to the Navy as a second class stoker.

‘‘Des [Price] joined the Navy to see the world, what he didn’t realise was that this would be through the eyes of war,’’ Johnstone said.

Soon after signing on he was drafted to the Leander, which launched from Devonport on September 24, 1931. He was already at sea when World War II broke out.

The ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Leander on March 24, 1933. Along with Achilles, she served in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy.

While the Leander was responsible for sinking two enemy ships, Johnston said her father ‘‘lost count’’ of the number of times the ship was bombed by Italian and German forces.

It is believed Price is the last surviving member of the Leander crew that was torpedoed by Japanese forces in July 1943, an event that killed 26 crew members.

After the war, all Kiwis serving in the Royal Navy, including Price, were recalled to New Zealand.

Not long after returning home he met Win, his wife-to-be, at a dance. He sold his motorbike to buy the engagement ring.

For the first 10 years of the marriage, Price was at sea most of the time, until he decided to leave the Navy in 1958.

After that, he worked as the technology teacher at Northcote College for 21 years.

Throughout his life Price’s interests were rich and plentiful. He loved to read, garden, fix cars, make marmalade and talk.

He was still selling poppies until the last years of his life and he never missed placing a poppy on comrade Brian Boate’s memorial plaque on Anzac Day.

Johnston said her father’s loyalty, principals, and passions defined the man he was.

‘‘Dad, the eternal optimist, had us believing he was here forever, we wish he could have been,’’ she said.

SUPPLIED Veteran Desmond Price was the last surviving crew member onboard the HMS Leander when it was bombed by the Japanese in WW2.