ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS OFFICER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 88, Issue 230, 26 September 1944, Page 5

ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS OFFICER

' DEPARTURE FROM N.Z. (P.A.) Auckland. Sept. 25. After spending almost three years in New Zealand, Lieutenant-Colonel H. B. M. Groves. M.C. and Bar, Royal Armoured Corps, has left for an overseas destination. He was accompanied by Mrs. Groves and their two children, one of whom was born In New Zealand. Lieut.-Col. Groves is well known to many New Zealand soldiers as commanding officer of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles School at Waiouru, which was established late in 1941 for the purpose of training an Army tank brigade for sendee overseas and which also played a most important part in training officers and other ranks for armoured formations of the home defence forces. Lieut.-Col. Groves arrived in New Zealand in September, 1941. and w’as the first and only commanding officer of the school, which is now closed. Under his very efficient command the school achieved a standard which compared very favourably with that of the more famous armoured fighting vehicles schools in the Middle East and in other countries. Ita contribution to the Expeditionary Force and to the home defence forces was in itself a monument to his capacity. A veteran tank officer of Ihe last war. Lieut.-Col. Groves spent four years in the Middle East and fought in the Libyan campaign. Before he was specially selected to take command of the Zealand school ho organised the First Tank School in Egypt, to which a number of men from ’ Now Zealand cavalry units were sent for ‘training and which Is now one of the best-known tank school in the world At this school, at Messines in the last, war, and in Libva T.ieut-Coi Groves formed an admiration to” New Zealand soldiers, which he continued to show throughout his in