LIEUTENANT J. S. HAZLETT
Lieutenant John Stephenson Hazlett, who has been killed in action in Italy, was the eldest son of Mr W. T. Hazlett, of Invercargill. He was educated at the Waihopai School, Invercargill, and at the Waitaki Boys’ High School. He was a member of the Waitaki Rugby fifteen, and was an exceptionally good boxer, being the winner of the school middle-weight championship. On leaving school he became a member of the Pirates’ Football Club in Invercargill, and for several seasons played for Southland as a five-eighths. He captained the Southland representative team, and in 1924 he took part in the All Black Rugby trials.
Lieutenant Hazlett was keenly interested in horses, and raced in partnership with his brother under the title of "J. S. and W. E. Hazlett.” They met with much success, particularly with hurdlers and steeplechasers. Lieutenant Hazlett was a good amateur rider, and won several steeplechases in hunting company. He hunted with the Birchwood Hounds and was master for a number of years. He owned the Burwood, Mavora and Centre Hill Stations in Southland in partnership with his brother, Mr W. E. Hazlett. He enlisted for service with the forces early in 1940. -Otago Daily Times, 28/3/1944.
Lieutenant John Stephenson Hazlett, reported killed in action, was the senior member of the well-known racing partnership (J. S. and W. E. Hazlett), which has achieved such remarkable success in jumping races during the last five years. He was the eldest son of Mr W. T. Hazlett and grandson of Mr James Hazlett, who raced successfully in conjunction with Mr Stephenson. Lieutenant Hazlett was well over the age at which officers were accepted for active service overseas, but after persistent efforts he persuaded the authorities that his physical condition justified a relaxation of the regulation. In civilian life the deceased sportsman was engaged in pastoral pursuits. Until his weight proved a bar, he was a keen rider in races for amateurs. -Timaru Herald, 30/3/1944.
Hazlett Memorial Bay At Waitaki High School
NORTH OTAGO NEWS
The official opening of a bay erected to the memory of John Stephenson Hazlett, who was killed in action in Italy on March 19, 1944, adds yet another feature to the widely used and well-stocked library of the Waitaki Boys’ High School. The bay contains a table and six chairs presented by the Hazlett family, and in addition an endowment fund to provide books for the bay has been created. A memorial plaque was unveiled by Mrs Cunningham, a sister of this outstanding old boy, in the presence of another sister, Mrs Tapley, Mesdames S. I. Fitch and Reid (friends of the school), the Rev. A. Marshall (chairman of the Board of Governors), and the rector, Mr J. T. Burrows.
Speaking of the fine character and achievements of John Hazlett, Mr Burrows said he was a member of the cadet corps when at school, a member of the first rowing four which represented Waitaki at the interschools rowing championships, a member of the first fifteen, of the School Library and Waitakian, and was an outstanding athlete. He was also a prefect, and won the Holmes Nisbet Prize in 1918.
The library is probably the most pleasant room in the school. It was started 25 years ago by merging three rooms into one. and was capable of seating 80 boys. The extension of the shelving however, restricted the seating space and at the beginning of 1946 an adjoining room was prepared and painted by masters and boys and the newspaper racks and a magazine table are now housed there.
During recent years the library has been modernised. The walls have been painted cream and decorated with good pictures. Low, open shelving, much of it standing clear of the walls, has been substituted gradually for the old-fashioned glass bookcases. The tables have been cut to standard library dimensions, and a work bay screened off. The addition of the John Hazlett memorial bay is a further step towards making the room an attractive one in which to work and annually to the stock the total number does not increase rapidly, as some types of books receive plenty of use and others become outdated and are not returned to the shelves without good reason. There are now 6000 volumes on the shelves, 2000 of these being of the more popular kinds of fiction. These are kept along one wall. The remainder of the books are arranged according to the Dewey system, the classification being carried out about 12 years ago. The lending system is similar to that in public libraries, and loans average a book for each pupil at the school per fortnight. A feature of the library is the number of periodicals received — at one time there were 70, but now there are 43. These include 17 from England and six from America, the rest being New Zealand and Australian publications. There is nowadays far more class work in the library than there used to be. A knowledge of its resources and classification is a required part of the English syllabus, and its popularity during leisure time has not been diminished by school use.
The Department of Education not contributes liberally towards the purchase of books and equipment, but funds derived from school sources, such as the profit from the bookshop are still of importance for further development of the library. An old-established library, too, is in a happy position. The late Mr Frank Milner’s interest is evident to-day in sets of encyclopaedias, standard authors and reference materials, and the bound copies of periodicals such as Foreign Affairs and The Times Literary Supplement. It is hoped with the endowment of the Hazlett Memorial to build up a good section of reference books on all kinds of sport, a section which has not so far been a special feature of the library. -Otago Daily Times, 25/6/1948.
John Hazlett served in the 20th (Armoured) Regiment of the New Zealand Army in North Africa Italy, joining shortly after the Regiment became an armoured one. He was killed in an action which was part of the Battle of Monte Cassino. The Official History of the 20th Armoured tells the story:
During these attempts to get around the corner a most distressing incident occurred. Jack Hazlett was very close to Albaneta House covering Renall and keeping an eye on Albaneta when his camouflage net which he was carrying on the back of his tank caught fire. Jack jumped out of his turret to pull it away and was shot dead from Albaneta. His wireless operator and gunner Sorich and Dasler also got out — I have never understood why they did — and dived into a huge bombhole alongside and both perished either from shelling or snipers from Albaneta — I think shelling as we were having a nasty strafing at the time. Shorty Gallagher and Bill Welch were the drivers and eventually brought the tank out, much holed by bazookas. They put up a magnificent show and Gallagher received the MM…. It was a tragic affair. Dasler and Sorich if they had remained would have come out…. The death of Stuffy Hazlett was a severe blow to the Squadron. His never failing good humour and commonsense, as well as his renowned unorthodox methods, had endeared him to us all — he was sadly missed.
At the risk of a little repetition, the story of the advance by Renall's troop, now two tanks strong, is well worth hearing at first hand. It is told by Corporal Jones, commander of the surviving tank, who did not escape from the action unscathed. He writes:
Buck came on the air to say our other tank was bogged and that we were to recce for an advance route to the Monastery. It was a wonderful experience being so close after weeks of cowering under its domination, and to think we could actually fire at it directly.
It was at this time I realized that our ammunition was running low. Our Browning tins were nearly empty and our 75mm racks were getting bare. Every shot had to count now.
We turned left and went forward a hundred yards or so and somebody on the air said to ‘put out that fire on that tank’. While I was looking round to see if it was ours I saw the camouflage net on Jack's burning and Jack [Hazlett] climbing out to extinguish it. Seconds later he fell off the tank.
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