John Iveson Henderson was born in 1918 and was one of five children of Robert and Agnes (nee Allen) Henderson of Inglewood and New Plymouth. He went to Central School then New Plymouth Boy's High School where he was remembered as an outstanding swimmer. On leaving school he was a member of the Star Football Club and the East End Surf Club and worked in a grocery store.
He enlisted in the Army at the outbreak of World War Two in 1939 before sailing for the Middle East as a member of 19 Battalion with the First Echelon. He was killed in a bomb attack on trenches on Crete on May 26 1941.
In a letter written by a Captain DK McLauchlan to John’s brother Jack, and quoted in the book Lest We Forget by Jack West, McLauchlan described the attack that killed John and said he died a few minutes after while being tended to by stretcher-bearers. He said he was buried under olive trees and the grave was marked with a wooden cross.
However it appears his grave was not able to be located by the Graves Recovery Unit as his burial place is not recorded. Instead his name is remembered on the memorial in the Phaleron War Cemetery, Athens, Greece.
Book
Lest we Forget: a tribute by New Plymouth Boy's High School, New Plymouth, to the 227 men of the School who died while serving their Country during the Second World War, 1939-1945, by Jack West, TRCT940.5467 WES
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