HOME GUARD

Camp News (Northern Command), Volume 1, Issue 25, 18 October 1940, Page 5

HOME GUARD

Further Area Commanders SOUTH ISLAND CENTRES The Minister of National Service, j Mr. Semple, announced last night the i following further appointments of area , commanders in the Home Guard: — i Area lOC, Headquarters Ashburton. : i Captain Eric Cockroft. He served ] with the N.Z.E.F. in Samoa in 19 1 i returning to New Zealand in 1916. He then proceeded to France, where he i i served in 1917 and 1918 as a lieuten-I I ant in the New Zealand Machine-gun Corps. Since the last war he has had service in the Territorial Force, and has been promoted to the rank of captain. Captain Cockroft is a school master at Ashburton. Area 11A, Headquarters Oamaru: Major John Franklin Tonkin, M.C. He served with the N.Z.E.F. in Egypt, Gallipoli and France, from 1915 to 1919. He was awarded the Military Cross, the French Croix sde Guerre,' and mentioned in dispatches. On returning to. New Zealand he continued to serve for some time with the Canterbury Regiment. Major Tonkin is manager at Oamaru for Dalgety and Co., Ltd. Area 11, Headquarters Dunedin: Lieutenant Francis Boyd Adams. He served in the N.Z.E.F. with the Otago Regiment from 1916 to 1919. He is well known in Dunedin, and is Cro v n prosecutor in that city. Area 12A, Headquarters Gore: Lieut.Colonel Ernest Frank Selby, M.C. He left New Zealand with the Main Body, N.Z.E.F., as a sergeant in the Otago Regiment. He gained his commission in the field, serving in Egypt, Galli* poli and France, and rose to the. rank of temporary major. On returning to New* Zealand in 1919 he continued to serve with the Territorial Force for a number of years, rising to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and commanding the Ist Battalion of the Southland Regiment. Colonel Selby is an accountant, and is a well-known member of the Returned Soldiers’ Association at Gore. \ Area 12, Headquarters Invercargill: Captain William. Bell. He served in the N.Z.E.F. from 1914 to 1920. He took part in campaigns in- Egypt, Gallipoli and France. He is a farmer, living at Woodburn, and is very well known in Invercargill. ■‘The area commanders now appointed,”- said Mr. Semple, “all belong to the South Island. All the appointments have been made after consultation with the Dominion commander, Major-General, Young, the Returned Soldiers’ Association, the local authorities, and I am very pleased to notice the fine records of those who are giving their time gratis to this work.”