MEN OVERSEAS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 302, 22 December 1941, Page 6

MEN OVERSEAS

AUCKLAND CASUALTIES

Advice has been received by Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Lowther, of 82, West End Road, Herne Bay, that their son Private Douglas Alexander Lowther, has been killed in action. Private Lowther, who was 20 years of age, was a member of the Richmond Yacht Club and the North Shore Rugby Football Club. He enlisted early in the war and saw service in the Greek and Crete campaigns. Two other brothers are prisoners of war, one being captured in Greece and the other in Crete.

The first boy to pass the University Entrance Examination after the establishment of a high school at Kawakawa, Private John Cheeseman Skudder, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Skudder, of Kawakawa, has been killed in action. Private Skudder entered the teaching profession, and, after studying at the Auckland Teachers' Training College and the Auckland University College, he was appointed to a position at the Okaihau school. He left New Zealand for service overseas with one of the early reinforcements, and celebrated his twenty-first" birthday in the desert in August.

According to advice received by Mr. and Mrs. R. McKinnon, of 191, Dominion Road, Mount Eden, their son, Gunner John Alexander McKinnon, who was previously listed as missing, is reported killed in action. Gunner McKinnon, who was 25 years of age, went overseas with the anti-tank regiment.

Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Sim, of Pukekohe, have - received information |hat their son, Bombardier Geoffrey

T- Sim, who was reported wounded in Libya, has had his right arm amputated. He is also suffering from a fractured left leg and an injury to the left eye.

Advice has been received by Mr. and Mrs. S. M. Farrelly, of Buckland's Beach, that their son, Corporal J. Farrelly, has been wounded in Libya. .Corporal Farrelly, who was a linotype operator at the Herald Office, left New Zealand last January for service overseas.

News that two of their three sons serving overseas, Sergeant Malcolm James Buchanan and Lance-Bombar-dier Thomas Bruce Buchanan, have been reported wounded, has been received by their parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Buchanan, of 4, Orakau Avenue, Epsom. Sergeant Buchanan joined the Royal New Zealand Artillery in 1935, and he left with the 4th Reinforcements for service overseas. He was in action in both the Greek arid Crete campaigns. His wife, Mrs. Margaret Buchanan, resides at Hillsborough Road( Mount Roskill. LanceBombardier Buchanan was an nrdent yachtsman and was a member of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. He was part owner of the Gloriana. He left New Zealand with the Third Echelon and saw service in Greece. Both sons were educated at King's College.