"B” Company Commander

Arawa Guerilla, Issue 8, 1 November 1942, Page 2

"B” Company Commander

THE familiar figure of Captain J. Hollows, the Commander of B Company, is to be seen in nearly every activity in camp. He has a wide variety of interests, and, in addition to his efficient command of his Company, he displays his considerable’ organising ability in many directions,

such as, for example, the management of the recent “Splitzkreig” tour to Hamilton. His knowledge of King’s Regs, and Military Law, rumour has it, is encyclopaedic, as he seems to have at his finger-tips all the tricky technicalities of those appalling subjects. Captain Hollows is a genuine West Coaster with rain in his veins, being born at Westport, which should .have been enough to damp any infant’s enthusiasm. He was educated in Dunedin, and joined the Waikari Rifles in 1911, remaining in the Territorial Forces until 1914. He enlisted at the outbreak of war and went overseas early in 1915. The next years were full and active ones, during which he saw a long period of service in the Middle East, in France and Belgium with the Auckland Regiment and the N.Z.R.B. He was wounded at the First Battle of the Somme, at Fleur Baix, Plaigstrurt Wood and finally at Messines in May, 1917, w|hen he received a grenade wound in the ankle. In 1918, he was invalided home, and spent a long period in hospital, including 1920-21 in the Rotorua Military Hospital. Eventually he was discharged from hospital in 1921, and returned to civilian life. Immediately prior to the outbreak of World War 11., Captain Hollows was practising as an assessor in New Plymouth. In 1939 he organised a Guards Vital Points there and in September was transferred to District Headquarters, Wellington, where he took over control of M.T. for the district until June, 1941. From there, he went to Trentham as O.C. N.Z. Ordnance Corps, N.Z.E.F. section until April, 1942, when he was sent up on loan to the Northern District. After a period at Papakura, he was finally transferred to this camp, where his personality has impressed itself strongly. Captain Hollows has found time for a varied selection of sports. He has played Rugby and Soccer and done well on the athletic field. Of recent years,-one of his chief interests has been launching, at which he is something more than an expert. Now that the camp has a launch of its own, we look to Captain Hollows to show us how it is done. We can rest assured that the launching, like all things he handles, will be expeditiously and efficiently done. On a recent wet Saturday, Sgt. Reid, in giving a lecture on Japan, said, “I’ll now say something about Shinto.” “Oh, hell,” said a P.8.P., “we’ve just heard a lecture on the foot.”