Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Posthumous presentation of war medals

By John Maslin
Whanganui Chronicle·
3 Mar, 2015 05:21 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
PROUD MOMENT: Rob Zaagman, Dutch Ambassador, and sisters Kahrin McEvoy-Roberts and Alex Goodwin, daughters of Mr Warners.PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

PROUD MOMENT: Rob Zaagman, Dutch Ambassador, and sisters Kahrin McEvoy-Roberts and Alex Goodwin, daughters of Mr Warners.PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

A Wanganui family have got closure on a major part of their heritage with the posthumous presentation of war medals to their father.

Alex Goodwin's father Johan Frederik Warners served in the Dutch Royal Navy during World War II in what was then the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and after the war continued serving as the Dutch battled insurgents in the area until 1952.

And last month she and her sister Kahrin McEvoy-Roberts and some of their family were guests of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Wellington to receive medals awarded posthumously to their father.

Mrs Goodwin said Dutch veterans were entitled to the medals for their war service but her father's recognition only came after she had applied for a war pension for her mother.

She said she had wanted to research more about her father "because he didn't talk at all about his war experience".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He wasn't a hero or anything like but rather we wanted to know more."

Johan Warners was working in Indonesia when war broke out and he went on to serve as a radio operator in the Dutch Royal Navy.

At the presentation of the medals at the embassy in Wellington last month, Ambassador Rob Zaagman said the Dutch navy played a prominent role during the war in Europe and the Far East.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Zaagman presented the family with two medals. The first, the Mobilisation War Cross, is awarded to people who served on active duty in the Dutch armed forces between April, 1939 and September, 1945.

"For a long time, Dutch people didn't realise that many soldiers were eligible for the war cross. That's why, after all these years, it's still being awarded to veterans. Importantly, the medal can also be awarded posthumously.

"It was a very difficult time, because the Netherlands was occupied by Germany and the Dutch East Indies by Japan but the fight went on until these lands were liberated," he said.

The second medal was the Star for Order and Peace and presented to those who served at least three months as members of the Dutch armed forces between September, 1945 and June, 1951.

The awards ceremony also included a surprise visit from members of the Dutch Royal Marines and Royal Dutch Navy who were in the capital.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Exciting new adventure': Interim council boss revealed

Whanganui Chronicle

Awhi Haenga 'ready to tackle anything' as councillor

Whanganui Chronicle

'Keeping kids out there': Sport support fund to launch in Whanganui


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

'You never know when you'll need them': Survivor urges Cancer Society support
Northern Advocate

'You never know when you'll need them': Survivor urges Cancer Society support

'Reasonable chance of ending the war' Trump says as he meets Zelenskyy at White House
World

'Reasonable chance of ending the war' Trump says as he meets Zelenskyy at White House

Hurricane Erin's expansion sparks US East Coast warnings
World

Hurricane Erin's expansion sparks US East Coast warnings

'It's not a luxury': Disabled woman denied funding for wheelchair repair
Bay of Plenty Times

'It's not a luxury': Disabled woman denied funding for wheelchair repair

Crews called to overnight blaze in Whangārei
Northern Advocate

Crews called to overnight blaze in Whangārei

Hamas accepts Gaza ceasefire terms - Hamas official
World

Hamas accepts Gaza ceasefire terms - Hamas official



Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Exciting new adventure': Interim council boss revealed
Whanganui Chronicle

'Exciting new adventure': Interim council boss revealed

'Whanganui is having its time, I think.'

18 Aug 06:00 PM
Awhi Haenga 'ready to tackle anything' as councillor
Whanganui Chronicle

Awhi Haenga 'ready to tackle anything' as councillor

18 Aug 05:00 PM
'Keeping kids out there': Sport support fund to launch in Whanganui
Whanganui Chronicle

'Keeping kids out there': Sport support fund to launch in Whanganui

18 Aug 05:00 PM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search