The New Zealand Expeditionary Force Serge Jacket of Lt. Col. H. G. Carruth (Whangārei Museum 1986_63_76a).
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force Serge Jacket of Lt. Col. H. G. Carruth (Whangārei Museum 1986_63_76a).
OUR TREASURES
When looking into local Second World War history, everyone has a story and most people have some remnants of their family experience, be it clothing, medals, documents or photographs.
That is because the war touched everybody's lives, as much for those who remained in New Zealand as those who wentabroad.
For our newly opened special exhibition, Tora! Tora! New Zealand!, it was difficult to choose items from Whangārei Museum's collection for a display to highlight the local experience.
As an example of a New Zealand Expeditionary Force uniform, we have chosen a jacket, trousers and two hats which belonged to Lieutenant Colonel Hugh G Carruth and were donated by Mrs G. Carruth.
Hugh's great-uncle William was one of the first British settlers in Whangārei. Hugh Carruth was born in 1895 in Whangārei and attended Whangārei Boys High School, with which he continued a long relationship, by playing in the Old Boys Football team and eventually, after the war, becoming chairman of the Whangārei Boys' High School Board from 1947 - 1952.
At the age of 19, Carruth served in WWI. This is recorded on the coloured service ribbons on his jacket lapel. In the 1920s and 1930s, he joined the family business as a solicitor.
As an experienced military man, Major Carruth was second in command of the motorised squadron of the North Auckland Mounted Rifles at the start of the Second World War. In 1941 he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Divisional Cavalry - a light armoured cavalry regiment.
Whangārei High School Old Boys Senior Rugby Team 1923, H. Carruth third in the front row (Whangārei Museum 1985_1690_1).
With them, he moved to the 2nd NZ Expeditionary Forces camp in Ngaruawahia in Waikato, where they trained as scouts, in reconnaissance and intelligence gathering methods as part of the first special division for overseas service.
After a brief visit to his home in Maunu, Lt. Col. Carruth sailed to Egypt, where he became Commander of the Composite Training Depot from 1941 to 1942. He returned for service back home in June 1942, greeted by a dance in the Maunu Hall. In 1943 he commanded the Kumeu area of the Home Guard.
Lt. Col. Carruth's formal uniform consists of a peaked dress cap, a lemon squeezer hat, a belted brown twill jacket, trousers and a pair of black shoes.
Hugh G. Carruth, from the Northern Advocate page 6, April 4 1941.
The felt lemon squeezer cap has an interesting history and was used in both World Wars, so it would have been familiar to Lt. Col. Carruth. His peaked dress cap was introduced in 1939, to distinguish men of the Special Expeditionary Forces from the Territorial Forces who wore a slouch cap.
Upon discharge from the Army, Hugh Carruth returned to his solicitor's practice and continued serving our region with activities with the Whangārei Boys' High School and Whangārei District Progressive Society.
This is one small snippet of the many extraordinary stories from Northland in the 1940s. Visit Kiwi North this summer to hear more personal stories of the war and its impact on Northlanders' lives at home.
• Georgia Kerby is exhibitions curator at Whangārei Museum at Kiwi North.
