George Joseph McLeod, 1926-2012

Signing up at 15 years of age to do his bit in the war effort, one of the first things the services insisted on was "teaching me how to smoke". He describes some of his journey in the Navy from England, Russia, New Zealand, the Islands and Japan in an interview with Jack Best.

George Joseph Mc Leod was born in 1926 in England, joining up for the war effort in 1941 at just 15 years of age. He joined the Royal Marines because “they were the only people accepting boy soldiers” at the time, and because “so many of my neighbours and friends had already been killed by 1941”.

For three months he trained on the Isle of Man out of the public eye. His training included learning how to smoke, because “it was good for us and our offsiders in times of stress”…” they insisted on it”. After three months he was posted locally and developed a gunnery speciality before being posted to HMS Furious (pictured below centre) an aircraft carrier that was part of a protective convoy of ships to Russia. These ships came under aircraft assault by German planes based in Scandinavia as well as submarine attack.   During these trips, Mc Leod was on gunnery duty. He recalls that once berthed at Russian ports they were not allowed ashore as the Russians didn’t trust them.  “We didn’t like the poor old merchantman blown up all around us…bodies in the water and we couldn’t… daren’t pick them up of we would have been picked off…” In his mind the runs from England to Russia became “quite frankly a bloody great blur” there were so many of them. This wasn’t helped by the winter days which gave only a few hours of light each day.

HMS Furious

 While injured, off duty and “bored out of my mind”, Mc Leod took to reading all notices posted over the ship and came across a New Zealand Navy notice asking for volunteers. He immediately signed up but was added to the Burma draft before getting orders to transfer. After a bit of “kicking and screaming” he was put on a troop ship to Colombo, and then the HMNZS Gambia (pictured below left). Gambia conducted raids on Japanese-occupied places such as Java and Sumatra until in 1944 it took some leave in New Zealand.

HMS Gambia

 Attached to the American 5^th fleet the crew of Gambia were the first New Zealand troops to put foot on Japanese soil at the end of 1945.  Mc Leod was chosen to attend the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on board the USS Missouri (pictured below).

Post war Mc Leod stayed in the New Zealand Navy for another 4 years and saw The Gambia return to the Royal Navy.  Although deemed officer material for the Royal Navy, Mc Leod had “fallen for New Zealand and felt like a kiwi”. Around that time (1949) it was decided that the Royal Marines were no longer needed in New Zealand so Mc Leod joined the Auckland Regiment before joining the Hauraki Regiment.  Mc Leod eventually made his way up to becoming the commanding officer of the Hauraki Regiment before being posted to Auckland as Military Secretary of the New Zealand field force, after which he retired to the sunny Bay of Plenty.

Shigemitsu signs surrender

In 2007 he was awarded the Queen's Service Medal. George Mc Leod passed away on May 15, 2012. An obituary can be read in the Daily Post (May 22, 2012).  Lt Col George Mc Leod was no stranger to the local media. You can read more about him in the following:

• The H.M.S Gambia website (http://www.hmsgambia.com/hmnzsarticle.html)
• Stuff- The Rotorua Review. 2005 April 5 Aiming for 50th on parade
• Stuff- The Rotorua Review. 2005 April 27 The spirit of ANZAC
• Stuff- The Rotorua Review 2006 April 20 A time to remember
• The Daily Post  A003 2011 Nov 12 Armistice Day interest grows
• The Daily Post A15 2008 April 24 Early risers to see jewel in day of remembrance ANZAC DAY
• The Daily Post  A03 2008 April 15 Mc Leod's Anzac honour
• The Daily Post A03  2008 April 26 Mc Leod: Youth turning to crime Anzac Day: Soldiers didn't fight for young people to become criminals, service told