Difference between revisions of "Lawn Arthur William Lamason Captain 122768"

Revision as of 20:21, 23 November 2014

Personnel Entry

Captain A W L LAWN

Name Lawn Arthur William Lamason
Army number 122768
Rank Captain
Decorations
Date of birth 1/1/1904 at Stratford, Taranaki.
Age 38
Unit New Zealand Territorial Force - Wellington Regiment, served in 1st Battalion as Company Sergeant Major (described as Student School Teacher in civil life). Commissioned as 2/Lt on first appointment to 1st Battalion, Wellington Regiment 14/8/1923 (Gazetted 6/9/1923). Transferred to Taranaki Regiment 29/4/1925 - appointed 2/Lt in 1st Battalion, retaining his seniority. Leave of absence granted with effect from 15/6/1937 on his leaving for the UK. Transferred to the Reserve of Officers Class 1 (b) with effect from 24/5/1937. Request for records made to New Zealand on 13/9/1939 on his seeking to join Durham Light Infantry. Approval to transfer granted 14/9/1939.

Durham Light Infantry - Emergency Commission as 2/Lt 5/3/1940, Posted 10th Bn DLI, Posted 11th Bn DLI 30/6/1940, Served Iceland. Welfare duties at Iceland Force HQ. Requested transfer back to New Zealand Forces. Army HQ agreed to accept his transfer for either a mobilised territorial unit or for temporary staff work. Trf Pioneer Corps 31/1/1942. Relinquished Commission on being appointed to a Commission in the New Zealand Forces 31/5/1942. Posted to the New Zealand Infantry in the rank of Captain - Number 865. Posted Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. DIED at sea 11/7/1942 en route to join the Expeditionary Force in New Zealand.
Company/Battery 10th Bn - B Company, 11th Bn - B Company
Platoon or other sub-unit
Task or role 1st Reinforcements (Force Duties) Iceland.
Joined Brigade 5/3/1940 or shortly thereafter
Promotions Passed Examination for Lt 25/9/1926. Promoted Lt 21/4/1927. Partially passed Examination for Captain 13/11/1929. Passed remainder of Examination and promoted Captain 14/5/1930 (Gazetted 7/8/1930). Passed Part C (Practical) Examination 16/5/1934. A/Captain 1/4/1940, W/S Lt and T/Captain 1/7/1940
Wounded
Prisoner of War
Died/Killed in action 11/7/1942
Home address School Teacher. Son of Charles Henry and Barbara Mary Lawn (nee Lamason), of Stratford, Taranaki, New Zealand. Commemorated on the Wellington Provincial Memorial, Karori Cemetery, Wellington, New Zealand.
Source table 10DLI

The following message was left on the Wartime Memories Project Website :-

Capt. Arthur William Lamason "Paddy" Lawn . British Army 10th Battalion Durham Light Infantry from Hawera, NZ.)

(d.11th Jul 1942 )

Paddy Lawn was a well-loved teacher and swimming coach at Hawera NZ. He went to London in 1937 to help with unemployed youth auspices through the YMCA.

When war started he went to NZ House to join up and was told to join the local Durham Light Infantry. Having been a Territorial in New Zealand, he was made a Captain right away and then found himself right through France and Dunkirk. The Battalion reformed at Ilford (sic) and was sent to Iceland as part of the Garrison.

Later Paddy was transferring to the NZEF from the BEF (sic) when the ship was torpedoed by U boat. He was last seen holding up another soldier in shark-infested waters near Iceland.

Tom Lawn.

Attempts to contact Tom Lawn by e-mail, using the address left on the Website, were unsuccessful.

However, subsequent e-mail correspondence with Mark Pirie has been most helpful and much information about Captain Lawn has been exchanged.

The New Zealand Military Archives, following my request and an explanation of how the material would be used on this Memorial Website, produced a complete copy of Captain Lawn's Service Record, including information on his earlier career in the New Zealand Forces, and documents which went some way to explaining why he was travelling to Wellington, NZ, at the time of his death. Thanks are due to David Gibson, Archives Enquiry Officer at the New Zealand Defence Forces.

Particular thanks are due to Alison Taylor of Auckland War Memorial Museum, New Zealand, who provided research guidance and gave advice on obtaining more information about Captain LAWN by contacting the NZDF Archives.

In addition to the details included above, Captain Lawn's Service record contains the following information:-

Having been accepted for transfer back to the New Zealand Armed Forces, it would appear that Captain Lawn had been intended for a posting to a mobilised Territorial Unit - which were increasing in scale at the time - and was sent as a passenger on board SS Port Hunter, which was part of Convoy OS33 which left Liverpool on and was bound for Wellington, New Zealand, via Durban, South Africa.

As the SS Port Hunter was low on fuel the Captain was ordered to leave the Convoy and make best speed to Durban to refuel. Shortly afterwards, the ship was sighted by the German U-Boat U 582 and torpedoed some 350 miles West of Madeira. The ship carried 5 passengers - including Captain Lawn and Mrs Duff, wife of Colonel (later Brigadier) C.J. Duff, Commander Royal Artillery of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, together with 89 crew. The ship's cargo included ammunition and, in the resulting explosion following the impact of the torpedo, she was so severely damaged that she sank in two minutes. The only survivors were three crew members who had been sleeping on deck and were blown into the water by the blast. One of the items on board was a motor vessel, being carried as deck cargo, and the three clung to the wreckage of this boat and were picked up the following morning by one of the convoy escorts.