14222 Private Dugald Cameron Henderson 1912-5/12/1941.

 

"Wounded and lost at sea" is a strange end for a soldier, and makes the Lawrence Cemetery commemoration of Dugald Henderson an intriguing one.  Contemporary newspapers were not much help in finding the details of Dugald's last day on earth, listing him as "wounded" on December 8, 1941.  On January 5, 1942, he is "missing" and "previously reported wounded," then, on January 17, "missing believed drowned."  Assuming that the newspapers were their only source of information, it must have been an awful time of waiting for his family in Lawrence.

Dugald Henderson served with New Zealand's 26 - Canterbury and Otago - Battalion in North Africa, and on November 18, 1941 he was with the HQ company, moving out before dawn to attack Italian and German forces to relief the Allied garrison at Tobruk.  Tobruk was reached and Dugald was one of the many dead and wounded lost by the 26th Battalion.  He was evacuated by sea - presumably a faster way to hospital and with better facilities that road travel.  The ship he travelled on was not marked as a hospital ship and was therefore a legitimate target for the enemy.

At half past five on the afternoon of 5 December the SS Chakdina left Tobruk harbour carrying 380 wounded, of whom 97 were New Zealanders. The Chakdina was not a hospital ship, but her use had been arranged by the British ADMS in Tobruk. In addition to the wounded she had on board some officers and men who were going to Baggush to resume duties with HQ 2 NZ Division. Among them were Maj M. Williams, OC 4 Field Hygiene Section, WO I R W. Cawthorn, and two men of ADMS's staff. Just after nine o'clock an enemy plane released a torpedo, which exploded in one of the after holds of the Chakdina. She sank within three and a half minutes. There was very little chance of escape, except for those who were unwounded or only lightly wounded, and who were in a favourable position at the time. Only 18 of the New Zealand wounded were picked up by the destroyer HMS Farndale, which also rescued all except one of the Divisional Headquarters medical staff. The survivors reached Alexandria on 7 December, and the casualties were admitted to the detachment of 3 NZ General Hospital there. The sinking of the Chakdina was the only major misfortune in the evacuation of New Zealand wounded during the war.  -Official History, Medical Units of 2 NZEF in the Middle East and Italy.

Lawrence Cemetery.