WW2 veteran finds himself singled out
ALLAN Fisher remembers when there were about 10 other World War 2 veterans who used to attend Anzac Day services in Arrowtown.
Yesterday he was the only one there.
Mr Fisher (94) was a signalman in the Royal New Zealand Navy, enlisting in December 1943 and being discharged on January 16, 1946.
Originally from Otautau, Mr Fisher attended boarding school in Timaru and would travel between there and Southland four times a year, seeing servicemen on every train he boarded.
He had gone through compulsory military training at school, but decided early on there was ‘‘no way’’ he was going into the army, ‘‘and the air force was too complicated for me’’.
Describing himself as ‘‘a bit of a sook at school’’, Mr Fisher said that his life changed when he got into a fight with someone, fought back and won.
‘‘After that day I was a different man.
‘‘That was when I decided [to enlist].’’
He worked at Invercargill’s Public Trust Office and was studying accountancy by correspondence until he turned 18 and entered the navy.
After being discharged he returned to Otautau and began working for his grandfather, also an accountant, and finished his studies, becoming qualified in 1951.
He continued that work until he relocated to Arrowtown in 1988.
Mr Fisher said it was pleasing to see increasing crowd numbers at the Anzac Day service in Arrowtown and attributed it in part to the importance of it.
‘‘It’s of more interest to me than Labour Day or Queen’s Birthday.
‘‘Anzac Day — that’s something in New Zealand . . . It means something.’’