When HMS Achilles opened fire on the German ‘pocket battleship’ Admiral Graf Spee on 13 December 1939, it became the first NZ unit to engage the enemy in the Second World War. Seventy one years on, the Battle of the River Plate still holds a special place in this country's naval history.
Able Seaman Joseph Pedersen, RNZN 2337, joined the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1940. In 1942 he was posted to the destroyer, HMS Lookout on which he served in the Mediterranean and in the Allied invasion of Sicily in September 1943 as he describes here.
Although it was waged half a world away, few military campaigns were as vital to New Zealand's interests as the Battle of the Atlantic. A German victory, which would have severed this country's links with Britain, was one of the gravest threats New Zealand has ever faced.
This memorial records the names of the one officer and five seamen of the Royal Navy ships HMS Curacoa and HMS Harrier who died in the battle at Rangiriri
Troops of the Second Echelon of 2NZEF and sailors of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve parade at Parliament, Wellington, on 27 April 1940, shortly before their departure.
