Cheeky POW warmed hearts

Life can turn on a moment and few could match the time when Arthur Stubbs delivered a message to the commander of the New Zealand Division in World War II, Sir Bernard Freyberg VC.
Lively reminiscences about an adventurous life from another era were shared yesterday at the funeral of Mr Stubbs, who died in Tauranga last week aged 104.
Mr Stubbs, the army driver who took six years off his real age to enlist in the war against Hitler's Germany, was dispatched with a message for General Freyberg in the final hours of the doomed battle to hold the Mediterranean island of Crete.
He arrived on a motorcycle just as the towering general was about to climb on to an aircraft to fly him to the safety of Egypt.
To Mr Stubbs' astonishment, Freyberg told him to lean the bike against a fence and jump on board with the rest of the division's top brass.
"It's all done here now," the General told the diminutive 1.57m despatch rider.
The plucky private replied: "Thanks but no thanks. I have some mates up the line that need help."
He saluted the General, jumped back on his bike and roared off, back to a division in full retreat. The irony of this enduring piece of comradeship, as recounted by Mrs Stubbs' nephew Derek, was that he was captured shortly afterwards by the Germans.
Passing up the general's invitation cost Mr Stubbs 3 years in a prisoner-of-war camp.
"But he never once regretted the decision," Derek said.
Daughter Heather said her father was a man who brought great joy to everyone and enjoyed being naughty.
Roger Magee, who was officiating at the funeral, perhaps came the closest to answering the tantalising mystery of how Mr Stubbs survived nine months as a prisoner on the run in the wintry Baltic.
"He always looked on the bright side of life. If you look at the smile on his face, he has some answers there _ someone kept him warm."
The humour and cheek of this expert marksman, fisherman and all-round lover of the outdoors was a regular theme of those who shared their memories of Mr Stubbs at the service held at Olive Tree Cottage, Pyes Pa.
No one at the service tired of hearing variations of stories around Mr Stubbs' huge appetite for bacon and eggs for breakfast and meat and spuds for tea _ with absolutely no other vegetables.
Derek recalled one dietitian, apparently unaware of his uncle's age, saying: "Arthur, you can't eat like that _ it will see you off before your time."
New Zealand was still a raw young country when Mr Stubbs "skipped" home in Oamaru to go fencing at the age of 12.
"Imagine what the Children and Young Person's Service would say about that now _ Arthur's father would be in jail."
Quick-witted and with a "wicked sense of humour" the only time Mr Stubbs was lost for words was when a nun was part of a dinner party.
Not realising she was a nun, he put his foot in it when he asked if she had any children.
She said: "Oh no, I am a sister in the Church."
Mr Stubbs replied: "That doesn't seem to matter much these days."
The nun looked at him sternly and said: "Yes it does. I am a Bride of Christ and someone your age should be very careful about getting offside with my father-in-law."
One of the last tributes in the funeral which ended with the RSA's Last Post and a release of pigeons, was from Tauranga accountant Chris Railton.
Mr Railton said he had a heart attack in 2006 after failing to take his friend's advice not to worry.
As he lay in hospital in Hamilton, who should appear but Mr Stubbs. At the age of 102 he had driven all the way from Tauranga and then proved a huge hit with the nurses who flocked to hear his stories.
"He came into my life as a client and left as a damn good friend."