Mervyn Francis ALCOCK

Service Number: NZ425381
RNZAF Trade: Wireless Operator-Air Gunner
Date of Enlistment: 30th of May 1942, at RNZAF Station Hobsonville
Rank Achieved:
Flying Hours:
Operational Sorties:

Date of Birth: 25th of May 1920
Personal Details: Mervyn was the eldest son of Mr C. Alcock (deceased by October 1942) and Mrs T. Alcock (later Mrs. T. Coulthard by October 1942). Mervyn's parents had lived in Cambridge before moving to Papamoa, before his father's death.

In October 1942 Mervyn became engaged to Phyllis Bennett, of Te Puke. They married on the 19th of April 1944 in Te Puke. By this time Mervyn's mother was living in Ellerslie, Auckland.

Service Details: Mervyn joined the RNZAF at RNZAF Station Hobsonville on the 30th of May 1942. His initial posting was as and Aircraft Hand (ADU), as a member of the Hobsonville Aerodrome Defence Unit, which patrolled the station against any intruders and potential saboteurs. At this time this type of posting was standard for any new airman who was awaiting a flying training course.

On the 2nd of October 1942 he embarked upon the troopship Matsonia bound for Canada, and on arrival he was posted to No. 3 Wireless School, at Winnipeg. In completing his wireless training here Mervyn graduated on the 28th of June 1943.

He then proceeded to No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School at Lethbridge. This course trained him in air gunnery and bomb aiming. On completion there he did a third course, at No. 2 Air Observer School, in Edmonton.

Date of Death: 12th of April 1988, aged 67

Connection with Cambridge: Mervyn's emgagement notice in 1942 indicates the family previously lived in Cambridge, probably before WWII

Thanks To: Errol Martyn for his valued assistance in compiling the information on this page, and to Lorna Lindsay and the late Ivan Lindsay for their Canadian training research.

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