Jack pictured above in his Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand home.
Remember that Jack is also the Author of our own
H.M.N.Z.S. GAMBIA
(My thanks to my old shipmate Maxie for forwarding the above article to me.)
Born 27 August 1916, joined the NZ Division of the Royal Navy in 1933 as its 1210th entry. Served in the wireless branches of Cruisers Dunedin, Diomede, Achilles, Leander, and Gambia.
Shore stations at Devonport NZ., Wellington NZ., and Port Signal Station Gibraltar.
Trawler/Minesweeper Wakakura, HMCS Tadoussac. (S.O Falmouth based minesweepers, 1944.) Ended naval career as Wireless Telegraphy Instructor at Tamaki, Motuihe Island, in 1946.
R.I.P.
SOUL OF GERONTIUS
I went to sleep; and now I am refreshed.
A strange refreshment: for I feel in me
An inexpressive lightness, and a sense
Of freedom, as I were at length myself,
I hear no more the busy beat of time
No, nor my fluttering breath, nor struggling pulse;
Nor does one moment differ from the next.
Another marvel; someone has me fast
Within his ample palm; 'tis not a grasp
Such as they use on earth, but all around
Over the surface of my subtle being,
As though I were a sphere, and capable
To be accosted thus, a uniform
And gentle pressure tells me I am not
Self-moving, but borne forward on my way.
And hark! I hear a singing: yet in sooth
I cannot of that music rightly say
Whether I hear or touch or taste the tones.
Oh what a heart-subduing melody!
John Henry Newman (from 'The Dream of Gerontius')
