One of the great pleasures of the Old Comrades annual reunion at Taupo is the renewing of treasured friendships with fellow gunners with whom I had the good fortune to serve such a long time ago. I suppose those of us who were on the staff of the School of Artillery back then had the chance to meet a high percentage of serving gunners of the RNZA. That was at a time when the Regiment had reached its peak in numbers. Three field regiments, one medium, one light, one LAA regiment, three coast regiments, three composite HAA regiments and a Locating Battery. Not forgetting of course 16 Field Regiment serving in Korea. What a gunner empire it was. In those days too it was almost an essential pre-requisite for the appointment of CGS to have been a gunner. But there are some of our number who go way back long before that, to pre-World War II before the RNZA was mechanized and horses dominated gunners lives. Times have greatly changed but the spirit of those who served still lives on as the ghosts and names of Old Comrades surface during our Taupo weekend.

Of recent years, since fully retiring, I have taken up two hobbies; computers and gardening. I rely heavily on my grandchildren for tuition on the operation of the computer. Gardening however has become one of my great interests and whilst I am a complete novice at the game I spend hours pottering around my flowers. You might like to see the result of some of my efforts.

See also: The Mystery of the Origin of the Stonk and Development of Artillery Techniques by 2 NZ Divisional Artillery in World War 2

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