WWII NZEF Letter Card – Middle East 1941 – Crete, POWs & Christchurch
Offered here is an original handwritten World War II Air Mail Letter Card written by a New Zealand serviceman serving with an NZ General Hospital, Middle East Force, and dated Monday, 11 August 1941.
The writer has been identified as Corporal V. W. Manson, service number 13942, serving with the NZEF Middle East Force. A V. W. Manson is also independently recorded in the New Zealand Gazette as an officer of the N.Z. Infantry in 1944. The matching initials, surname, nationality, military context and chronology make this a strong candidate for the same serviceman, although this connection has not been conclusively established through a service record or other unique identifier.
Corporal Manson,l who signs himself “Vic”, addresses the letter to “Chas” at the Public Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand.
The hospital designation appears to be 2nd General Hospital, although the handwritten numeral is not sufficiently clear for this to be stated with certainty.
What survives is a remarkably personal snapshot of New Zealand wartime life in the Middle East. Across the letter, Vic writes about friends and colleagues, correspondence from home, the intense heat, a missing serviceman named Alex, a friend who had returned from Crete, prisoners playing soccer, Christchurch hospital news, horse racing and inter-unit cricket.
Several friends and acquaintances are mentioned by name, preserving something of the network of New Zealanders separated by wartime service but still connected through letters and shared friends.
The following partial transcription has been prepared carefully from the original. Where handwriting cannot be read confidently, uncertain wording has deliberately not been guessed.
Monday, August 11th
“Dear Chas,
I received your air mail letter some weeks back & have been waiting for a nice cool day to settle down & answer it. Today is really quite a change from what we have been having the last few months, & the wind is not hot as it generally is.
Yesterday I had a letter from Charlie Cormack ... it was a good one, plenty of news, & even had several swear words in it. Some people think that Charlie doesn't swear, but he does, & he wrote just as if he was having a yarn to me.”
Later, Vic turns to the uncertain fate of a friend:
“Well Chas, maybe you will have heard something definite about Alex by now. I haven't been able to gather any more than he is missing…”
Elsewhere he describes visiting friends and passing a prisoner-of-war camp:
“Yesterday I went with Arthur Victor, Bill McCammon, and Bill's brother-in-law to their camp, and we passed a prison camp where the inmates were playing soccer. That would do Alex, eh?”
Another passage provides a direct connection with the recent fighting on Crete:
“Harry Parish used to come see me every week after he came back from Crete, but he has, I think, moved on somewhere.”
Vic also mentions friends including Johnny Brown, news from Christchurch Public Hospital, the August racing meeting, and playing cricket in an inter-unit competition.
The letter closes with:
“Regards to all, and best wishes to you and your family,
Vic”
Historical Context
Dated 11 August 1941, this correspondence was written only a few months after the campaigns in Greece and Crete, a period in which New Zealand servicemen in the Middle East were receiving news of friends who had been killed, captured, wounded or reported missing.
Importantly, this letter itself makes a direct reference to Crete, recording that Harry Parish had returned from there before apparently moving elsewhere.
The identity and circumstances of the serviceman referred to simply as “Alex” have not been established, and no assumption has been made about where or how he went missing.
Alongside these wartime concerns are wonderfully ordinary details: Charlie Cormack's unexpectedly colourful language, news of a troublesome hospital lift back in Christchurch, horse racing, cricket and friends encountered overseas.
Together they make this an engaging surviving example of the everyday correspondence that connected New Zealand servicemen overseas with life at home during the Second World War.
Condition
Original wartime condition with age-related toning, fading, fold lines and general handling wear.
Some areas of the handwriting are difficult to decipher, particularly where the writing crosses the printed blue pattern of the letter card. Other portions remain considerably clearer.
Please study all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the description and condition.This letter card will be packaged with great care.
• Original handwritten WWII Air Mail Letter Card
• Dated Monday, 11 August 1941
• NZ General Hospital / Middle East Force military address
• Original postal markings and stamps
• Complete original correspondence shown in the photographs
Together they make this an engaging surviving example of the everyday correspondence that connected New Zealand servicemen overseas with life at home during the Second World War.
This historical document will be packaged with great care.
It will be placed inside an archival-quality protective sleeve, supported securely between rigid boards to prevent bending, protected against moisture, and shipped in a sturdy mailer using a fully tracked postal service.
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