NZ Hush Hush Company 1941
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Te Hikoi Museum
A black and white photograph of a group of NZ service men at a special military camp at Wilson's Promontory in Southern Victoria, Australia in 1941. They were called the "Hush Hush" force and the men involved were sworn to secrecy. The troops involved were highly trained in special tactics using automatic weapons, explosives and improvised devices. They were also trained to move quickly on sabotage and intelligence missions. They returned to NZ but military command could not figure out how to utilise their new found skills. Jack Bickley was part of this group, he can be seen, 6th from right at the back in the photo. They were dispatched to Egypt in November, 1941 as part of No 1 Independent Company but eventually the men of No 1 and No 2 companies were assigned to different battalions. Jack Bickley ended up in the 23rd Battalion in the intelligence Section. The photograph is part of the photograph collection that Jack Bickley sent home. Born in Riverton in 1915, John Wallace (Jack) Bickley (48015) was undergoing teacher training in Dunedin in 1940 when he enlisted in the army and served overseas, returning to NZ in November 1945. Marrying his sweetheart Irene on 26th December 1945 and beginning his teaching career he taught until 1975 and passed away in 1978 in Arrowtown. Irene passed away in 2012. In 2010 his daughter Mary and her husband Fergus Sutherland, retraced his and the 2NZEF soldiers' wartime path through Libya and the Western Desert, Crete, Greece, Italy documenting their travels in the book "Far From Home And Family' with Mary being the author. The second part of the book is "Please Send Home" 'The War Diaries and Letters of Jack Bickley 1941-1945'
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Details
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Title
NZ Hush Hush Company 1941
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Maker
Unknown photographer
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Date made
1941
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Subject
Military - World War Two, People and Families (including births, weddings, deaths), Pets, people & families, 1940s, World War Two
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Additional information
organic, processed material, paper, Image: h 146 mm x w 256 mm
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Rights
Public Domain
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Additional information including high resolution images may be available.
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Location
170-172 Palmerston Street, Riverton, Southland
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Website
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Te Hikoi Museum
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You must check with Te Hikoi Museum to confirm terms of use and any attribution requirements, but this is our understanding:
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Use for private study, research, criticism, review, or education
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Text adapted with permission from Te Papa and Digital NZ
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