V.C. WINNER

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 40, 17 February 1944, Page 6

V.C. WINNER

HERO OF RU WE IS AT

HONEYMOON IN AUCKLAND

Fifth of the seven New Zealanders to win the Victoria Cross in this war, Second-Lieutenant Keith Elliott, is spending part of his honeymoon in Auckland, as the guest of Mr. and Mrs. S. V. Smerdon, of 21,' Mount Albert Road. His bride was Miss Margaret Larkham, of Hastings. Auburn-haired and stocky—running true to New Zealand type in his stockiness —Lieutenant Elliott was a sergeant, 2G years of age, when he won the coveted medal, "For

Valour," at Ruweisat, North Africa, in July, 1942. He was one of a family of eight. He was born on Anzac Day! Only a year before, the men of the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force had landed under withering tire and stormed the first heights of Gallipoli. Lieutenant Elliott was educated at Lytton Street School, Feilding, and at the Feilding Agricultural High

School. A keen footballer, lie won a place in the Bush district repres\itative Rugby teams of 1938 and 1i)39, after moving to Pahiatua. His parents are still farming near Pahiatua, and the coming of the war found him farming at Mangamaire, in the same district. By reason of deeds, rather than words, Lieutenant Elliott is a man born to quiet popularity. Behind his Victoria Cross is a steady record in North Africa of splendid soldiering, into which he infused a distinctly religious way of thinking and living. Lieutenant Elliott will visit the Mangere Bridge School at 2 p.m. tomorrow, having been specially invited, and it is expected that he will briefly address the children. He has no other public engagements and would prefer to enjoy his honeymoon quietly. It is unlikely that he will be returning to the Middle East.