Ken Dalzell continued to retain an association with 75 Squadron and Bomber Command. PHOTO/Supplied.
OBITUARY:
KEN DALZELL
We were just pawns back then...If they put the politicians in the front line, there wouldn't be any more wars.
The extraordinary life of World War II RAF Bomber Command veteran Ken Dalzell was celebrated at a private family service, as he had wished, following his death on October 24.
He was 97.
Ken was a life member of Thames RSA, Thames Harness Racing Club, Thames Jockey Club, Thames Coast KEV, the Corinthian Lodge and the 75 Squadron Association.
Upon attending an 18-day trip to unveil a memorial to lost comrades in Green Park London, Ken said the whole idea of war was stupid.
"We were just pawns back then...If they put the politicians in the front line, there wouldn't be any more wars."
Ken was born in Dannevirke, and after starting high school in Taumarunui, his family moved to Auckland where he attended Mt Albert Grammar school.
He worked at the Maple Furnishing Company and enlisted in December 1941, aged 18, into the Scottish Regiment which was an infantry regiment.
He applied to join the Air Force and was sent to Canada to train as a navigator, in Winnipeg – where the planes were kept in a heated hanger with electric blankets around the motors to protect them from the cold.
He did 100 hours to get his "wings" and flew over the prairies and Lake Winnipeg.
He was moved to a holding camp outside Montreal then on to Halifax in Nova Scotia where he boarded the Empress of Scotland. They sailed for England and arrived about 6 weeks before D-Day (June 6, 1944).
It took about six days to cross the Atlantic – unescorted – and the ship took a long route to avoid the German U-Boat packs. There were 9000 on board.
Ken was initially based in North Wales where he met Gay, his future wife, who was a WREN based in Llandudno.
They married at the end of the war and Gay came out to New Zealand as a war bride.
Ken flew most missions out of Mepal, as a navigator in Lancaster Bombers, to sites in Germany. He was one of the few who were in Bomber Command who returned from the war.
Daughter Robyn took down some of her father's stories, and he recalled: "I got a ring from the CGI (chief ground instructor) 'Dalzell we think you'd make a good Pilot, but you've put yourself down as a navigator'. I said 'I was told I couldn't be a pilot because of an eye problem'; He said 'We'll go and check that but the eye tests you had here say there is nothing wrong with them'. I said 'Actually to be quite honest I've taken such an interest in navigation now I particularly want to do it'. I knew we were going to Canada and the others were staying here! They sent me to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist put down on my file that he doubted whether I would make aircrew. So after two months at Rotorua and one week final leave I was off overseas. They reckoned I was probably the fastest person to go through from the time I joined the Air Force to the time I went to Canada."
Ken returned to civilian life to complete his accountancy exams, setting up practice in Thames.
The years he spent in the Air Force could be said to define his life, as the friends he made in those years remained close friends his whole life. Ken continued to retain an association with 75 Squadron and Bomber Command, and at 89 he flew with 31 other veterans to attend the dedication and unveiling of the memorial to lost comrades in London.
Ken was heavily involved in the Thames community, through his work for 25 years as secretary of the Thames Trotting Club, secretary of the Thames Jockey Club, his involvement with the RSA, achieving a Gold Star, and life membership, and he was a past Master of the Corinthian Lodge.
He started an accountancy practice in Thames which still operates today as HDAS accountancy services, but in 1959 was not allowed to advertise for clients. Son Geoff says his parents lived off Ken's war pension while building up the firm, which Geoff bought off his dad in 1977.
Known affectionately as "razzle dazzle", he became New Zealand's longest serving harness racing secretary, bowing out after 25 years' service.
Ken and Gay had sons Geoff, Ian, Rory and daughter Robyn.
Robyn says at the end of the war the British Government distanced itself from Bomber Command, with the loss of civilian life when Germany was blitzed by the bombers.
"They didn't get the recognition they deserve. They didn't make the decisions, he was 18 when he went to war.
"He was quite proud of what they did because they stopped the war carrying on a lot longer than it would have."
Two people have died and others are injured following two crashes on Saturday.