Pilot’s strong Whangamata links
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A pilot officer and three sergeants of the Royal New Zealand Airforce are now officially presumed to have died on October 23, 1942 on which date the aircraft of which they were crew was reported missing from a North Island air station.’
work for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). They care for service people who died on ‘‘active service’’ and WWII’s Douglas Martyn’s plaque falls under that.
He is buried in Waihi but has suspected strong links to Whangamata.
WHV member Krishna Buckman contacted Douglas’ family members. The family assumed he was schooled in Whangamata. Douglas’ mother schooled children in her own home and also boarded the teacher. They also think he helped on the farm after school years until he enlisted.
On enlisting with the RNZAF, Douglas’ next of kin was his mother Mrs E.M. Martyn, Private Bag Waihi. In 1942 Douglas was posted to Canada as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme which trained Kiwi airmen for the Royal Air Force.
Douglas completed two courses in Montreal and was transferred to a bombing and gunnery school at MacDonald, Manitoba.
The family are puzzled as to why he was buried in Waihi and not Whangamata. Krishna says the only reason they can think of is that in 1974 when the Ministry of Defence were contacting family for burial details, the Private Bag in Waihi had been closed with mail going direct to Whangamata. Douglas’ enlistment form had next of kin as Private Bag, Waihi, so they assumed he lived in Waihi.
Douglas died on October 23, 1942 at the age of 22. His record on the Auckland Museum online cenotaph states that Douglas was “engaged in a coastal training flight which failed to return to the base (New Plymouth)”.
A newspaper listing was found: ‘‘A pilot officer and three sergeants of the Royal New Zealand Airforce are now officially presumed to have died on October 23, 1942 on which date the aircraft of which they were crew was reported missing from a North Island air station.’’
Krishna says six plaques have been restored since they took on the initiative.