MIGHT HAVE BEEN FARMER

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22477, 12 January 1943, Page 3

MIGHT HAVE BEEN FARMER

Middle East Air Force Leader DISCHARGED FROM FIRST N.Z.E.F. “The stone which the builders discarded hath become the head of the corner.” This dignified Biblical phrase can be applied to many great leaders in history, but to none more aptly than to Air Vice-Marshal Arthur Coningham. commander of the Allied Air Force in the Western Desert, states a writer in the Melbourne “Argus.” At one time discharged from the Army as unfit for further active service. he now leads in a very active form the strong air armada which dealt such smashing blows at Rommel's forces in support of the Bth Army’s, offensive, and was a major factor in the great victory. Although Australian born, Coningham's early years were spent in Wellington, New Zealand’s picturesque windswept capital. A good athlete and average scholar, he passed unobtrusively through Wellington College 1 few grades behind Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C.. the present commander of the New Zealand forces. “Tiny” Freyberg (he is well over 6ft tall) was already becoming a legend when the future air vice-marshal attended the school, though his fame at that stage was based rather on his escapades and outstanding swimming ability than his scholastic accomplishments. It is said that Freyberg spent less time in the classroom during the summer months than he did in the Te Aro Baths, where his feats in endurance and under-water swimming are still remembered. But Freyberg had gone to South America. seeking adventure when young Ccningham passed out of school. An office stool held no attraction for him, and he went farming in the North Auckland district. The outbreak of war in 1914 found him a tall, strapping young athlete of 19, and one of the first to enlist. He sailed with the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in December, 1914. However, he was not destined to accompany the gallant band of Anzacs to the beaches of Gallipoli, for an attack of sunstroke in Egypt put him in hospital, and he was sent back to New Zealand in 1915 on one of the first hospital ships. His discharge soon afterwards as permanently unfit for active service had a touch of anti-climax about it. But Coningham refused to take the Army’s verdict as final. Travelling to England at his own expense, he was accepted as a trainee by the Royal Flying Corps, as it was called in those early war days.

A born airman, he soon won his wings and was sent to France, where he rapidly became an outstanding fighting ace. and won several decorations. It was there, too. that he first demonstrated his flair for leadership, and towards the end of the war gained promotion to high rank. After the Armistice he was offered a permanent commission in the R.A.F., and decided to accept it and make England his home.

In the ensuing peace years, although not one of the Air Force's spectacular officers associated with round-the-world flights or record-breaking enterprises, he nevertheless built up a solid reputation for leadership and organisation. ADpointment to the command of the Allied Air Forces in Egypt gave him ample opportunity to demonstrate these talents. And so Air Vice-Marshal Coningham. M.C.. D. 5.0., D.F.C.. born in Queensland, brought up in New Zealand. and long resident in England, fittingly commands a force drawn from all parts of the Empire, as well as from England itself. It is strange to think that had he resigned himself in 1915 to being invalided out of the Army with an honourable discharge. New Zealand might have gained a good fanner, but the Allies’ cause would have lost a brilliant and courageous leader.