Collection: Thomas King Collection | Invercargill Archives

Processing Information

This collection is awaiting arrangement and description. It contains documents and photographs relating to Thomas Kings time during navy training and WWII. Please contact Archives staff for details of collection content.

Dates

Majority of material found within c.1920s - 1940s

Biographical / Historical

Thomas Henry King [WWII NZD1873] was born on the 15th of January 1906 in Paddington, London, one of ten children to parents Sidney and Edith (nee Poole). He attended Middle Row Primary School, and is listed in the 1921 census as a printer.

He enrolled at HMTE Shotley, a Royal Navy training establishment in Suffolk, UK, in 1921, and served on a number of ships including the HMS Diomede and HMS Dunedin. His record (J103949, AB) shows he was transferred to the NZN for 3 years in 1928.

He was working as a labourer in Invercargill, NZ, before enlisting with the RNZN in 1940, with records showing he was at Devonport [Auckland] in 1942, and at RN Camp, Hay Paddock, Pietermaritzburg [South Africa] in 1943.

During WWII he was invovled in an incident where his ship sank during a convoy voyage and he spent two hours in icy waters [see Southland Times, 16 May 1942]. The collection includes a telegram he sent home to his wife on the 10 May 1942 - "Safe and well dont worry love".

He married Nessie McCulloch [1907-1973] in 1931, they had three children, and Thomas resided in Invercargill until his death 27 August 1993, aged 87.