Memories of a hero come flooding back
When Les Hine was 8 years old, he fell into a swimming pool and nearly drowned.
There are things you never forget, Hine, now 90, said.
‘‘Like you’re calling for help, but you’re calling underwater.
‘‘I’ve always known Bill Penman saved my life and shortly after that he goes away to war. I’ve always had him to thank for my life.’’
Hine’s memories came flooding back on Saturday when his sister alerted him to the Daily News story Letters from a time of war, which featured Penman.
Suddenly, it was 1938 or 1939 and Hine was back at the saltwater baths at Kawaroa, New Plymouth.
‘‘I wasn’t supposed to be at the big pool because I couldn’t swim. I was playing around the big pool, there was a lot of people there, and
I slipped into the shallow end.’’
He ended up under the wooden steps that went down into the water. ‘‘And I would not have come up. From there in, it was ‘that’s it’.’’ But Penman pulled him out. ‘‘[Penman] was seeing how far underwater he could go. As he got to the steps he sees me under the steps, and he grabs me and pulled me out. Obviously just moments away from ‘finito’. So I survived.’’
Hine’s father went to visit Penman to thank him and give him a reward, Hine, who nows live in Wairoa on the east coast, said.
‘‘But my dad always told me Bill Penman wouldn’t have any of that. You know, he wouldn’t accept anything. That is the type of guy Bill Penman was.’’
About five years later,Penman’s father, David, came round to Hine’s family home to read their meter.
‘‘And I still to this day am able to remember Penman coming around very upset.
‘‘He was just the metre reader to me then, and he told Mum that he’d just received word his son had been killed in action.’’
Bill Penman served in World War II in Greece, the Middle East, and Italy where he died at Sangro River on November 30, 1943.
He was 34. He was awarded the Military Medal for courage under fire and was one of only four New Zealanders who also received the bar, which signifies the medal was won again.
Penman’s nephew Tony Kivell hadn’t heard the life-saving story before. ‘‘I’m very impressed.’’
He has shared the tale with his family members, including the grandchildren.
Kivell said his uncle was a member of the New Plymouth Old Boys’ Surf Lifesaving Club.
‘‘All the Penmans were good swimmers.’’