Earle and Irene Pickering
(nee Kerr)

My Granduncle - On My Mother's Side

Earle Vaughan Pickering, fourth child of Arthur and Elfrida Pickering (nee Dixon), was born on 20 February 1918 at Woodville. After leaving school he was a projectionist at the Woodville Theatre and at the Regent and Kosy Theatres in Palmerston North. On leaving Palmerston North he went to Wellington where he was employed by General Motors Ltd and Crompton Ltd, Cornhill Street, as a carpenter. He was one of the first dozen Wellington men to enlist for army service on 14 September 1939 and was attached to the Army Service Corps (ASC) as a Driver in Petrol Company.

Irene Alice Kerr, child of Reginald and Emily Kerr (nee Penno), was born on 25 March 1917 at Westport. Irene was a nurse at the Central Park Hospital in Brooklyn, Wellington, a benevolent home for the elderly.

One month before Earle embarked for overseas service, he and Irene, both aged 22, were married on 2 December 1939 at St. Peter's Church, Wellington.

On 5 January 1940 Earle left New Zealand on the troopship Orion, travelling first to Freemantle, then to Colombo, and arriving at Egypt on 13 February 1940. He went with the New Zealand troops to Greece and subsequently to Crete where he was killed in Action on 21 May 1941 at Pink Hill, outside the village of Galatas. He is buried at the Suda Bay War Cemetery.

Irene, aged 28, remarried on 2 February 1946 to William Lindsay, aged 31, at St. Peter's Anglican Cathedral, Hamilton.

Irene passed away on 4 September 1947, aged 30, at Hastings.

Sources

Birth Certificate, Earle Vaughan Pickering, folio no. 2319/18, Woodville.
Birth Certificate, Irene Alice Kerr, folio no. 2955/17, Westport.
Marriage Certificate, Earle Vaughan Pickering/Irene Alice Kerr, folio no. 13687/39, Wellington.
Marriage Certificate, William Lindsay/Irene Alice Kerr, folio no. 3391/46, Hamilton.
Death Certificate, Earle Vaughan Pickering, folio no. 1945/41529, Wellington.
Death Certificate, Irene Alice Lindsay, folio no. 2931/47, Hastings.
War Record, Earle Vaughan Pickering, DVR 4353 Div.Pet.Co.
Obituary, Earle Vaughan Pickering.
Woodville: 1875-1975 (Palmerston North: Dudley Rabone & Co Ltd, 1982), p.73-4.
Winter, Peter. Expendable (Tauranga: Moana Press, 1989)
Kidson, A.L., Petrol Company (Wellington: Historical Publications Branch, 1961)
Davin, D. Crete (Wellington: Historical Publications Branch, 1953)