PERSONAL NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 75, 30 March 1943, Page 3

PERSONAL NOTES

Lieut.-Commander R. E. Washbourn, D.5.0., R.N., who was decorated for gallantry in H.M.S. Achilles during the action against the Graf Spec, was married to bMiss June Medwin Herapath, of Guildford, at St. Mary Abbot's, Kensington, on March 27, states a special U.P.A. message from London. Lieut.Commander Washbourn entered the Royal Navy in 1928. He won the Goodenough Medal for gunnery and the Robert MeganMemorial Prize for 1932----33, awarded yearly to the sublieutenant obtaining the highest place in examinations for lieutenant. In 1937 he won the Commander Egerton Memorial Prize, awarded for the gunnery lieutenant . passing best in the examination in practical gunnery. The citation stated that Washbourn set a magnificent example in the Battle of the River Plate. Though hit in the head by a shell splinter, he continued to control the main armament with the utmost coolness.

Mr. J. D. Simpson, recently connected with the firm of A. M. Satterthwaite and Company, Ltd., Auckland, has been appointed -to the New Zealand Supply Mission in Washington. The Minister of Supply and Munitions (Mr. Sullivan) said last night that Mr. Simpson had spent considerable time in the United States during the last few years and it was felt that his experience, coupled with his knowledge of the indenting trade in New Zealand and the export trade of the United States, should prove of benefit and be of considerable assistance to the New Zealand Supply Mission. Mr. Simpson's duties would be principally connected with obtaining supplies for New Zealand. His appointment was in line with tlie policy of strengthening the New Zealand mission by the appointment of several officers experienced in special lines in the commercial world.