Officiant Leah Kelly-Frith, left and the 1st Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment bearer party, with the casket of Dannevirke's Private Owen Dawson, 650478, who died in Malaya on March 31, 1964.
Officiant Leah Kelly-Frith, left and the 1st Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment bearer party, with the casket of Dannevirke's Private Owen Dawson, 650478, who died in Malaya on March 31, 1964.
The late Private Owen Dawson's spark and joy for life is never far away and while his flame may flicker and spark, his memory lives on in our lives, Leah Kelly-Frith, the officiant at his memorial service last week, said.
Fifty-four years after he died in Malaya, Pte Dawson was one of those returned to New Zealand as part of the Defence Force Repatriation Project "Te Auraki" (The Return), of service personnel and dependants buried in Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, American Samoa, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea, after January 1, 1955.
Friends, family and former comrades gathered at the Dannevirke Bowling Club last Friday to pay their respects, with Kelly-Frith delivering a compassionate service.
Peter Dawson, speaking on behalf of the family, thanked the Defence Force for the "absolutely wonderful" arrival in Auckland on August 21.
The bearer party carrying Private Dawson's casket through the RSA honour guard following the memorial service at the Dannevirke Bowling Club last Friday. Photo / Christine McKay
Pte Dawson, 650478, 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, died in Malaya on March 31, 1964.
"When someone is taken from us in the prime of their life, hidden in the pain and sorrow there is something to celebrate," Kelly-Frith said. "We're very privileged and honoured to have Owen returned home."
Pte Dawson loved his country and saw it as his duty to serve and defend so others could have freedom.
To the strains of Dave Dobbyn's Welcome Home a pictorial montage of Pte Dawson's life was screened before Pte Mark Crabbe read the poem The Fallen Soldier.
Born on February 14, 1941, Pte Dawson joined the army and was posted to Burnham Military Camp on April 19, 1963, before arriving in Malaya in November 1963, where he was stationed at Terendak Camp.
The bearer party from 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment carry Private Dawson through the Mangatera Cemetery to his final resting place in the RSA lawn cemetery. Photo / Christine McKay
"He joined the battalion at a very young age," Warrant Officer 2, Regan Cherrington said.
WO2 Cherrington had been part of Pte Dawson's journey back to Dannevirke from Auckland and he outlined the history of the battalion which specialised in long-range penetration in the jungle of Malaya.
1RNZIR is based in Palmerston North and is well-trained and highly experienced, especially in jungle environments.
"Owen was posted to the 1st Battalion when it was in its infancy, preventing enemy insurgence and developing a rapport with the locals," he said.
"He was part of the brotherhood of men, but unfairly, his time as an infantry man was cut short."
Corporal Tim Cook of the New Zealand Army Band plays the Last Post. Ralph Adrian of the Dannevirke and Districts RSA is holding the umbrella. Photo / Christine McKay
Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd) Brian Wells, who had been Pte Dawson's officer commanding in Malaya, delivered the eulogy at Pte Dawson's funeral in Malaya 54 years ago and read the Ode at the graveside in Dannevirke.
"Owen's loss all these years later is still significant," he said.
Pte Dawson wasn't the only military man in his family.
