McCarrison, Howard

,

Private Howard (Howie) McCarrison

Family/Last name:
McCarrison
Forename(s) and initial(s):
Howard (Howie)
Place of birth:
Owhango, New Zealand
Date of birth:
24/3/1921
Nationality:
New Zealand
Service number:
31424
Military Unit:
New Zealand Army (2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force), 22nd Battalion (2nd NZEF)
Rank when captured:
Private
Place of capture:
Crete
Date of capture:
18/5/1941
POW number:
21585
Camp
Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf / Stalag 344
Data sources
Service Records, The National Archives (UK)Other Sources (WO416 records transcribed by and held at the UK National Archives. Data processed and prepared by Rick Catt and Brian Cooper + Relative's report)
View a commemorative certificate for this prisoner

From: Janice Borg 25/09/2023

1. Date of birth 24 March 1921 and place of birth is from his birth certificate. This date doesn’t match his service record (18 March 1918) as he lied about his age when enlisting;
2. Service information – New Zealand service record;
3. Family information was that Howard was forced to work as a miner during his 4 years as POW. I’m not sure if this means that he was outposted to Sosnowitz? E535, Milowitz, Upper Silesia? per:
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19450616.2.75
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/second-world-war/prisoners-of-war/the-tiki-times
I cant see a working party reference on his service record. One edition of the Tiki Times apparently mentions him, but I don’t have a copy of it.
Extra details: Howard, known as Howie, remained at Lamsdorf when Stalag VIIIB was redesignated Stalag 344.
He was forced to undertake the long march from Lamsdorf in Jan-April 1945. He survived the march, only to suffer leg and groin gunshot wounds and a broken pelvis on 16 April 1945 at Regensberg at the hand of US air forces who mistook them for Axis troops.

He was initially treated for his wounds and malnutrition at a lazarette 16 – 27 Apr 1945, then at Broadgreen General Hospital in Liverpool UK 16 May – 22 June 1945. He required on-going treatment for some time after returning to New Zealand.

He went on to marry and have 2 sons, dying on 9 August 1977, aged 56, at Wellington, New Zealand.

He was very good friends with another New Zealand POW Robbie Robinson and they remained friends after the war.

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