5960 Petty Officer Herbert John Simpson, (1907-5/7/1943). "stepping over a cliff"

FALL OVER A CLIFF

PETTY OFFICER KILLED 

ACCIDENT AT CAPE BRETT 

(O.C.) WHANGAREI, Tuesday 

Stepping over a cliff at Cape Brett last night a sailor fell 30ft. and suffered fatal head injuries. He was Petty-Officer J. Simpson, married. 

The petty-officer was walking with a rating up a path on the side of the cliff leading to a dwelling and stepped over the side of the path, falling 30ft. to the ground below. He received a fractured skull and lacerations of the brain. A launch took him to Russell, but he died before being admitted to hospital. His wife resides in the South Island.  -NZ Herald, 7/7/1943.

FOR THE EMPIRE’S CAUSE

SIMPSON. — As the result of an accident while on duty, on July 5, 1943, at Cape Brett, Petty Officer Herbert John Simpson, beloved husband of Sylvie Simpson, of Kurow; aged 36 years.— Funeral notice to follow later.  -Otago Daily Times, 8/7/1943.

Details of Herbert Simpson's death were sparse in the newspapers, possibly due to the fact that the "signalling station" which the NZ Navy set up at the Cape Brett lighthouse was also a radar installation and, therefore, secret.

Kurow Cemetery.