John Palmer from Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Ngāti Tūwharetoa.
John served with D Company. He was part of a short fierce battle with the Germans in the Mavroneri Gorge in April 1941. The Battalion withdrew from their positions after this battle under the cover of darkness and embattled by wind and rain. In the confusion the section John belonged to was left behind. John and his comrades headed towards the Battalion's supposed position at Olympus pass. News to the contrary told them the Battalion were not there and they decided instead to head for the coast and make their way to Turkey. En-route they encountered a German labour force repairing a road. They tried to inconspicuously make their way past the Germans but were taken prisoner. On April 25th 1941 John and his friends became a prisoners of war. Read more about this here.
John was a prisoner of war when this photo was taken in 1941. He'd sent the photo home to his mother in Ōtaki.
When he returned home to New Zealand in 1945 he was in Pahiatua. Here he met the love of his life, Masie Hanatia. He courted her for almost two years before he caught her. As Hanatia says "once caught, it was such a long romance...".
John passed away on the 11th of March 2011.
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