First-hand accounts of World War II battles and experiences have been recorded for posterity, with the completion of 50 video interviews of locals who served overseas.
Over the past year, part-time historian and past editor of the Stratford Press Ray Cleaver of Mangatoki has been gathering war stories from World War II veterans around Taranaki.
A grant from Taranaki Electricity Trust to the Rata Education and Historic Productions Trust has made the
project possible, and Ray said the result has been very worthwhile.
``In 20 or even 100 years' time or more, people can watch and learn from these first hand accounts of
the war. It's important that future generations can appreciate what these guys went through. I estimate there are only about 8 per cent of these veterans left alive and numbers are rapidly dwindling. Most are in their 90s
now. These stories would be lost forever if they weren't recorded now.''
Many who fought in the war were reluctant to speak about the experience when they returned. But now, 66 years later, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge and almost everyone approached has been willing to tell their own personal story, says Ray.
``An interesting feature is that almost every veteran has a clear long-term memory of events during the war; names, battle sites and dates. Every veteran also remembers his serial number clearly.''
Ray has interviewed infantrymen, fighter and bomber pilots and crews and navy men. There are also a few interviews from ex-merchant seamen, who suffered terribly during the war with massive losses from U boats.
The interviews were videoed, photos edited in, and then made into a DVD. Three copies were made - one for Puke Ariki archives, one for the National Army Museum in Waiouru and one for the veteran.
``We have covered all the theatres of war, from the Battle of Brittain, fighting in the North African deserts and Italy and Greece, as well as in the Pacific,'' he says, adding that he also asked the men how they coped with fitting back into society after living in a `closed male world' with
his comrades for up to seven
years.
``For some, setting up a nucleas family was difficult for a while. For some, their youth was gone, and some returned home to children who didn't recognise them.
``Many however, see the experience as one where they grew a lot and saw a lot of the world. Some said they would not have missed it.''
Some of the stories are from ex- prisoners of war, who had it very hard and some are from air force crews, whose life expectancy in general was short.
``It has been an honour to preserve these first-hand stories for posterity.''
With this project completed Ray is now planning to apply for funding to record war stories from those who served in Vietnam, Malaya and Korea.
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War veterans tell their stories
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