Ronald Martin Farndale

Captured at the Battle of Sidi Rezegh in North Africa, Ronald emigrated to New Zealand where his descendants still live

I am very grateful to Robyn Boyd and to Geoff Muir who have helped me to tell the story of Ronald Farndale.

Return to the Contents Page

Wakefield

Ronald Martin Farndale, son of Robert and Sarah Jane (nee Alcock) Farndale was born into the Wakefield 1 Line in Stanley, Wakefield on 22 January 1919. He descended from the Farndales of Craggs Hall Farm.

By 1921 Ronald was two years old and his father was 36, a farmer, and horseman for the Stanley District Council.

Wellington, New Zealand

On 30 April 1936 Ronald Farndale, 17, a farmer, departed from London for Wellington, New Zealand on the Ruahine of the New Zealand Shipping Company Limited. His last address was Bells Farm near Skipton. The SS Ruahine was a passenger and cargo liner in service from 1916 until 1949. She was refitted in 1926 with reduced passenger accommodation, and again in 1933 with 220 tourist class berths.

He farmed at Morrinsville and Mastamata, Waikato, northeast of Hamilton.

Military Service

62013 Ronald M Farndale served in World War 2 in 6th Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps (“RAMC”) in Greece and Crete. His military records showed that he was a farmer from Morrinsville, Waikato, New Zealand. 62013 Pte Ronald Martin Farndale of Mastamata, New Zealand, enlisted at Morrinsville, a farmer. His next of kin was Mrs S Farndale, Bells Farm, Thornton in Craven, Skipton, Yorkshire and he appeared on the nominal roll between 1 April to 30 June 1941. He was part of infantry reinforcements and served with the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

He was almost certainly captured at Sidi Rezegh in 1941 and was a prisoner of war in Italy for the rest of the war. There is evidence that they all were working in the New Zealand 6th Brigade Advanced dressing Station at Belhamed, near Sidi Rezegh, when they were captured by German forces, and they all stayed together until they were repatriated.

The Battle of Point 175 was a military engagement of the Western Desert Campaign that took place during Operation Crusader from 29 November to 1 December 1941. Point 175 is a small rise just south of the Trigh Capuzzo, a desert track east of Sidi Rezegh and south of Zaafran. The point was held by Division z.b.V. Afrika, later the 90th Light Afrika Division. The 2nd New Zealand Division and Infantry tanks of the 1st Army Tank Brigade captured Point 175 on 23 November, early in Operation Crusader. The New Zealanders then attacked westwards and made contact with the Tobruk garrison, which had broken out to meet them. From 29 November to 1 December, the New Zealanders defended the point and the area to the west against Axis attempts to sever the link with the Tobruk garrison and regain control of the local roads. The new 132nd Armoured Division Ariete re-captured Point 175 late on 29 November. The defenders mistook Italian tanks and armoured cars for South African reinforcements led by armoured cars. 167 men of the 21st New Zealand Battalion were captured, the Italians apparently being just as surprised. The 6th New Zealand Brigade suffered many casualties around Point 175 and eventually retreated to Zaafran. The 2nd New Zealand Division returned to Egypt to refit, having suffered 4,620 casualties. When the division reassembled, it was sent to Syria to recuperate and was almost returned to Asia to participate in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater after the Japanese invasion of Malaya on 7/8 December 1941.

4th and 6th New Zealand Field Ambulance at overnight camp, North Africa, 1 October 1942

The 2nd New Zealand Division began Operation Crusader with 20,000 men, of whom 879 were killed or died of wounds, 1,699 men were wounded, 2,042 were taken prisoner (103 prisoners died from all causes), total casualties for the division being 4,620 men.

Maurice Muir NZ890 served with NZ 24th Battalion, as Regimental Stretcher Bearer in 24 Battalion and was captured at Sidi Rezegh on 1 December 1941 with Ronald Farndale. Maurice was awarded the Military Medal for protecting his Regimental Aid Post from friendly fire. They were transported by German Ship from Tripoli to Naples, then to Capua (Campo PG 66). In March 1943, the PGN 66 camp in Capua was described as a sorting camp with a capacity of 200 places for senior officers and 6,000 for non-commissioned officers and troops. It was made up partly of barracks and partly of tents. It began operating in April 1941. There is evidence of the ill treatment of prisoners there.

Camp 59, Servigliano

They were transported to Servigliano (Campo PG59), then to Chiavari (Campo PG52).

Camp 52, Chiavari, Italy, 1942. Photograph taken by W A Weakley. Note on back reads All beds and gear out for a search. Note where bed slats have been taken off to provide fuel for brewing tea.

Maurice Muir was later transferred to Lucca Hospital (PG202) in September of 1942, and repatriated to the UK in April 1943 along with 400 or so British and 14 other New Zealanders who had relatives in the UK. Ronald Farndale was with Maurice Muir.

In June 1943, the New Zealand Prisoners of War were repatriated. Left, the Bishop of Walaps, Right Reverend G V Gerard, senior chaplain with the New Zealand Expeditionary force before being taken prisoner, attends the Anzac day service in London. Right: Mr W G Jordan, High Commissioner visits the repatriated party. From left back row: J H Barr, Whakatane; C J Cousins, Ohai; W P Kane, Lyttelton; R M Farndale, Waharoa; P F Griffin, Invercargill; L W Jones, Palmerston; J M Malcolm, Auckland; F Milne, Masterton; Padre L Groves, Dunedin; front row: J McDermott, Wellington; M Muir, Dannevirke; Bishop Gerard, Napier; Mr W J Jordan, High Commissioner; Colonel W Foot; Brigadier R S Park; P W Purcell, Christchurch; A T Ryburn, Eltham; E J White, Otautau.

Prisoners of War of Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, repatriated Medically Unfit

Ronald appears on a War Memorial which seems to have been to those who served in WW2, rather than a list of those killed in action.

Ronald M Farndale, 24, then in the Army, departed from Liverpool on 19 June 1943 for Auckland, New Zealand on the Sydney Star of the Blue Star Line. His address was shown as c/o New Zealand Army HQ, 415 Strand, London WC2.

Masterton, New Zealand

Ronald returned to New Zealand with the Army after the war. He was repatriated to UK in 1943, but he must have then returned to New Zealand. He became a builder in Masterton north of Wellington.

Ronald M Farndale married Margaret Madge Maxted (born 1906) on 28 July 1945 in Auckland.

Maxwell Farndale was born on 21 May 1946 in New Zealand. In the 1946 Electoral Roll, Ronald Martin Farndale, a carpenter, lived at 81a Hillsborough Road, Roskill, Auckland with his wife Margaret Madge Farndale.

In the 1954 Electoral Roll, Ronald Martin Farndale, a carpenter, lived at 99 Banister Street, Hawkes Bay, Wellington.

Margaret died of a brain tumour in 1956. She is buried at Archer Street Cemetery, where Ronald was later buried.

Ronald Martin Farndale, married Doris Elaine Wilkin in 1959 in New Zealand

Ronald and Doris

Bruce Matthew Farndale was born in 1960. Wendy Jane Farndale was born in 1962. In 1963 the family lived at 24A Fleet Street, Wairarapa, and Ronald was a carpenter with Doris Elaine Farndale. James Ronald Farndale was born and died on 8 December 1965 . Lynda Rose Farndale was born in or about 1967 and sadly passed away on 13 January 1967 in infancy. Donna Ruth Farndale was born in 1970. Robyn Joye Farndale, born 1972 when the family lived at 24A Fleet Street, Wairarapa, New Zealand, Ronald, a carpenter. Ronald’s son Maxwell Farndale, a clerk, with Maxwell’s wife Gail Ann Farndale, lived at 3 Casel Street, Wairarapa.

Ronald Farndale

Ronald Martin Farndale died on 3 July 1974 at the age of 55 in Masterton. He is buried at Row 13 for ex servicemen at Archer Street Cemetery. He is also commemorated on a public memorial in Waharoa District, Matamata County for his service during the Second World War: R M Farndale; 62103, 2nd NZEF, Pte; NZ Medical Corps; Died 3.7.1974.

Ronald’s widow, Doris Elaine, remarried Jack Cottle in about 1980 and Jack passed away in about 2014. Doris and Jack had no children.

Return to the Contents Page

or

Go Straight to Act 29 – the New Zealanders

The webpage of Ronald Martin Farndale includes a chronology and research notes