OBITUARY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 100, 30 April 1942, Page 7

OBITUARY

CAPTAIN H. C. PETERSEN

.. Captain Hans Christian Petersen, Who died at Wellington in his eightythird year on April 23, had a record of no less than forty-five years' continuous: service in the Armed Forces of New Zealand. . N ; Born in-Norway in 1859, he came to New Zealand with his parents in 1872, Qri the/ Shaw SavilJ clipper Pleiades of 994!. tons'; At the age of seventeen, he joined the.. Volunteer Artillery ,Cadets, vand three, years.later the New "Zealand Armed Constabulary, which had been formed to deal with a Maori rising. Witti this force he served in the Waikato district, at Qpunake, Rahotu, and Kawhial .Oh the Armed Constabulary being disbanded, he transferred to the Permanent Artillery, now known ,as the .Royal New Zealand Artillery, and served- .cohtiuously. until 1921 When- he; retired;with the rank of captain. ~.His..father- was, also a soldier, holding :.a commission in the British Army, and served-in the Crimean War. His grandfather—also- -H. C. Petersen —held high "office in • the ■ Kingdom of Norway, at.' one time being Chief Justice, and again Premier. ,

- Captain Petersen's eldest son, Lieutenant H. M> Petersen, N.Z.A., was killed in France during the Great War, and his wife died last year. He is survived by a son, Captain H. C. F. Petersen, '• R.N.Z.A., and a daughter, Miss M. Petersen, ..and his only grandson, Mr. H. W. R, Petersen, is serving in the Fleet Air Arm, .

; Captain Petersen was ■ held in the highest esteem;, not .only among. his comrades of the R.N.Z.A., but in several units of the Territorial Artillery, to whom he was an invaluable instructor.