Prisoner tended sick and wounded

Amanawatu¯ farmer who served in both world wars was taken prisoner 80 years ago this month in Greece.

He never returned home.

A veteran of Worldwar I combat in Gallipoli, France, Belgium and Egypt, Edmund Haythorne was captured aged 47 during his only campaign in World War II.

The German invasion of Greece in April 1941, amonth before the Battle of Crete, was the first significant action for Kiwi troops inworldwar II.

Haythorne, a private, was in the medical unit of the Second New Zealand Division. He was one of 1856 Kiwis captured in Greece in April 1941 and about 9000 taken as prisoners of war during the six-year-long conflict. His story has come to light through historical records website Ancestry.com.au.

Haythorne was born in 1894, went to school at Whanganui Collegiate, and enlisted for Worldwar I in 1914, serving for four years.

In 1920, he married Margaret, who was from Auckland, and Worldwar II documents record them living in Manawatu¯ when he signed up for service in 1940. Haythorne enlisted in Palmerston North and was farming in Awahuri at the time.

News reports from the time of his death, of sickness on March 8, 1945, say he and Margaret had two daughters.

Haythorne died in Stalag-344 in Poland.

The New Zealand Herald in 1945 reported: ‘‘He was reported missing in the Greek campaign but was later discovered to have taken refuge in the hills with other New Zealand troops, having volunteered to remain behind to tend wounded men whom it was impossible to evacuate.’’

The Manawatu¯ Standard said: ‘‘For [four] years while prisoner of war he was in good health and spent the whole of his time caring for the sick and wounded in various hospitals in Germany and Poland.’’

In June 1941, the Manawatu¯ Times reported Haythorne wasmissing.

It said he took up farming in Kimbolton after Worldwar I, where he remained until 1937, and that Haythorne was a keen athlete. In 1945, a Times correspondent wrote: ‘‘He gave his life for his friends.’’

Haythorne is buried in the Durnbach War Cemetery in Germany.

Ancestry.com.au’s Australia and New Zealand content acquisitions manager Jason Reeve said service records for Worldwar I and Worldwar II were comprehensive and included plenty of information. The website is making its New Zealand and Australia military records free to access until tonight for Anzac Weekend.