Howick and pakuranga times feb 26 2015

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MULTI AWARD WINNING NEWSPAPER

Vol 44, No 16

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Kiwis stand proud in world wars

VETERAN AWARD: Howick RSA service member and patroness of the Women’s Section, Jean Oldfield receives the Times Veterans’ Community Service Award for service to the Howick RSA and the community, flanked by Times Newspapers owners Brian and Reay Neben. Times photo Wayne Martin

Air force vet wins award By Marianne Kelly

T

HERE was a special symbolism about Jean Oldfield’s chosen garb when she decided to wear her Vietnam Parade polo shirt to the Howick Lions in the Park and Military Tattoo at Lloyd Elsmore Park, Pakuranga, last weekend. To her shock and surprise she was announced the recipient of the Times Veterans’ Community Service Award for service to Howick RSA and the community. “It’s marvellous,� she says. “I had no inkling and of course I was wearing the polo shirt.� She acquired the garment when she and her late husband, George, a former helicopter pilot in the Vietnam conflict, marched to Parliament in Wellington in 1998 with other Vietnam veterans.

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“The Vietnam vets were never officially welcomed home,� she says. Mr Oldfield was posted to Vietnam attached to the Royal Australian Air Force 9 Squadron. “New Zealand had a ground crew there as well,� Mrs Oldfield says. “They picked up many army people from the jungle. “At George’s funeral one vet said it was marvellous to be winched up and see the name of a New Zealander on the back of the pilot’s helmet. But George said he was just doing his duty.� Mrs Oldfield is an RSA service member – in her own right. After a false start to a pharmacy assistant career, at the age of 18 she joined the Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force (WRNZAF), working at the Taiere (Dunedin) and Wigram (Christchurch) air bases between

1956 and 1959. “I had read a lot of Biggles [fictional pilot] books and all my cousins were boys,� she says. “I started as a radar operator with the maps on the tables, like you see in the war movies, then moved on to the Electrical and Wireless School at Wigram which supported compulsory military training.� After she and George married, she retired from the Air Force and became an Air Force wife following her husband from Wigram to Ohakea (Manawatu) and then Hobsonville (Auckland) air bases. Mr Oldfield left the Air Force in 1978 and joined Air New Zealand as a safety manager. When the couple moved out of their Hobsonville base house they found one in Pakuranga. “The land agent, when he found out about our Air Force background,

Teaching the old brain ������������������������������������������� page 3 One hundred years celebrated ������������������������������ page 5

took us to the Howick RSA before he showed us the house,� Mrs Oldfield says. Mr Oldfield achieved life membership before he died 15 years ago and Mrs Oldfield took up from where he left off, becoming patroness of the Howick RSA Women’s Section. She annually presents a scholarship, established in Mr Oldfield’s name, to recipients at the No 40 Squadron (Howick) Air Training Corps. Of her latest award, she says: “I was shocked and had no inkling when they [Reay Neben, managing director of Times Newspapers] started to read all the history [of the recipient]. When it was said the recipient joined the Air Force in 1956, I wondered who else was here who did that. Then I realised it was me when they said the person was a corporal when she retired.�

Military Tattoo in pictures ���������������������������������� page 10 That’s Entertainment �������������������������������������������� page 11

AS New Zealanders reflect on the nation’s contribution to world conflict, going back to the Boer (South African) War 18991902, and World War I in 1914-1918, the Times is inviting secondary and intermediate school students to write an essay. Anzac Day this year will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Kiwi service in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey. Some students may have records and photographs of great- greatgrandparents who served there. But in this special year, the Times wants to also commemorate the service given by many brave New Zealanders in the years that followed, so the theme of the competition is “New Zealand at Warâ€? . It extends the essay competition to personal accounts of greatgrand-parents’ experience in the North African, European and Pacific theatres of World War II, of grandparents’ contribution to Asian conflicts, including Korea, Malaya and Vietnam, or their parents’ current service in theatres, such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Those with no personal recollections are invited to write about any of these conflicts or their view of what the war service of generations of Kiwis all over the world means to them. The Times will publish winning and highly- commended essays in the run-up to Anzac Day 2015. Essays should be no more than 500 words and can include copies of supporting material like photos or diary notes etc. They will be judged in two categories – primary school age and secondary school. Please clearly state your age, school and year together with contact details. The competition closes at 5pm April 13. Prizes will include Hoyts double movie passes for every essay published; an entertainment pack valued at $250 for the winning primary and secondary schools category essays. Top entries will be published on the Times website too. Entries can be emailed to paulinew@times.co.nz or posted to New Zealand at War Essays, Times Newspapers, PO Box 259-243, Botany, Auckland 2163.

Classified advertising ������������������������������������� pages 14-19 Times sport ����������������������������������������������������� pages 19-20

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