1941, Carlyle Everiss: Better to save life

Peter McIntyre's 'The Blitz, Canea Crete area defended by NZ'ers', May 1941. (Archives New Zealand)

If the Battle of Britain had been Britain's finest hour, the Battle for Crete was one of New Zealand's darkest.

In May 1941 a force of New Zealand, Australian and Greek troops on the island of Crete were overwhelmed by the Wehrmacht in 12 days of heavy fighting. More than 2000 of the 7700 New Zealand troops were taken prisoner and 671 died.

Yet there were many acts of inspirational bravery during the year which resulted in four Victoria Crosses: Sgt John Hinton in April at Kalamata in Greece; Captain Charles Upham on Crete in May (the first of his two VCs); Sgt Alfred Hulme on Crete in May and Sgt James Ward of the RNZAF.

When returning from a mission over Germany in July, Ward had climbed on the wing of his crippled bomber to douse a fire in the engine, thus saving the crew and the plane.

IN HINDSIGHT

World War II pilot Carlyle Everiss crashed his plane to avoid hitting the Scottish town of Cowie. (NZ Herald Archive)

But, with hindsight, we choose a man who received little or no attention at the time.
RNZAF pilot officer Carlyle Everiss of Gisborne, was training in Scotland when his Spitfire stalled over the village of Cowie in Stirlingshire.

Everiss could have bailed out and saved himself but his plane was heading for a row of houses and he stayed with it, gaining enough control to avoid the village before crashing.

Everiss was killed and although his bravery did not have headline-grabbing glamour, the people of Cowie never forgot him. His portrait hangs in the local bowling club with the inscription "Carlyle Everiss - The Face of Courage."

"No one here underestimates the contribution Carlyle Everiss made in sacrificing his own life for the sake of not just the villagers at that time but for all generations to come," said local councillor Gerard O'Brien in 2007 when the villagers erected a bronze statue in his honour.

In the spirit of the Royal Humane Society award to Wetere te Rerenga in 1885 - that it is in some respects better to save a life than take life in battle - we recognise Carlyle Everiss as New Zealander of the Year.

From the Herald archives:
'Scots remember their NZ heroes', NZ Herald online, 7 May 2002

''Lucky' Maori Battalion survivor returns to Crete 70 years on', NZ Herald online, 18 May 2011

'Crete: A pilgrimage through the battlefields', NZ Herald online, 16 August 2011

Further reading:
'NZ pilot saves Scottish village', New Zealand History Online