Members of 27 Battalion on Crete

Kareen

For more information about the Battle of Crete see Dan Davin's official history:
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Cret.html

For more about the lasting impact of war on soldiers see Alison Parr, 'Silent casualties: New Zealand's unspoken legacy of the Second World War' - this is on Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/6eunzl

I asked our resident railways historian about the enlistment of railways stafff - here is his reply:
All of the NZ soldiers who enlisted between the outbreak of war in Sept 1939 and June 1940 were volunteers. Military conscription for the NZ general male population (between ages 19 and 40) was introduced between June and August 1940. From that time voluntary enlistment ceased for the army (but continued for navy and air force) - ie, all army soldiers from late 1940 were conscripts. As in the First World War there were different classes based on marriage and children – married men with children would have been last in line to be called up for active service.

Before 1942 there were no blanket rules for railway workers. Huge numbers of them volunteered in 1939-40. Railway workers who were conscripted between June 1940 and July 1942 could have, if they chose to, appealed (as individuals) on the grounds of 'essential service' - if they held key jobs as engine drivers/skilled tradesmen etc they would have probably be allowed to stay working, but unskilled workers like general labourers etc would probably not have been considered 'essential' at that time.

In July 1942 the government declared all railways jobs 'essential', because so many men had left that it was becoming very difficult to keep the railways running efficiently. This meant railways employees were exempt from conscription from that time - and were not allowed to volunteer.

Hope this helps.

I am trying to map together the history of my late father, whom faught in World War II in Crete. His name was John Hector Augustine Mudford, and he is buried in Wharangei Cemetary in Hawkes Bay.

I wanted to know something about what Dad went through as
I was the youngest of his nine-children, and was only 17 when he died of what can only be described as the consequential actions to soothea troubled mind it seemed to me, summed up as post-traumatic stress disorder.

How hard was it for the New Zealanders of 1941 to enlist in the armed forces? And did all men whom had children and worked on the railways in Ohakune be persuaded by the war strategies?

I would be grateful for any insights that probably can help me to achieve closure on a past that has troubled me for the last 35 years.

Sincerely Ms Kareen Squires (nee Mudford)
5/157 Stock Road
BICTON WA 6157
Australia