Richard Hastings Pavitt - NZ Army 064165 / British Army 348803 I am helping a family friend called Richard Pavitt, a WW2 soldier from NZ. His memory comes and goes but he has lent me his photos etc which at first made me even more confused. Basically he has a couple of photos from when he enlisted and then some photos and letters home from Italy in 1944 when he was a gunner in the NZ artillery. The next batch of photos are of Burma 1944-1946 showing a British Army officer with his Indian troops. Most of the photos have hand-written notes from some time after the war. At first I thought he had some other family member's Burma photos mixed in but then I found this link: British Army Officers 1939-1945 -- P Basically he took a British Army commision in the second half of 1944 and then served in the Burma campaign and it's aftermath until about 1947. I printed out the pages from the London Gazette detailing his commisioning and subsequent promotions up to the time of his discharge. I have read a few of his letters home to his dad in 1944 which give some insight into his service in Italy. Amongst his mementoes is his father's WW1 paybook named to Harold Hastings Pavitt 4/1721 and a folder with some of his WW1 paperwork and some photos. I also printed out the pages from the London Gazette detailing his father's Mention In Despatches (MID) from 1918. A WW1 forum had a query from a member concerning Pavitt senior so I'm hoping to get more info on the family from that source. Anyway, I look forward to finding out more about his family history. I am seeing Richard on Saturday and this info might trigger more details.
Dave, The Pavitt tree on url below has Harold Hastings Pavitt on it. I am a distant relly through Emily Buxton's marriage to Augustus Reid Pavitt in NZ. Hope this is of some use to Richard. Love the photos on this tree. Bob New Page 1
Thanks Bob - Augustus Reid Pavitt is the brother of Thomas Pavitt, who is Harold's father / Richard's grandfather. I guess that makes you Richard's cousin. I notice the tree goes from Thomas to Harold then Richard and stops abruptly. I suppose I should ask Richard to fill in a few of the blanks. A WW1 forum I joined has some good info on Harold including a transcript of his service record from NZ archives.
