Biography of James (Jim) Roland Calder
Summary A biography of James (Jim) Roland Calder, service no. C5464 RNVR NZD, one of six biographies of Canterbury veterans of World War II written by Kim Newth.
Jim Calder was just 17 when he saw the ships of the First Echelon, led by the battleship HMS Ramilles, leave Wellington bound for Egypt. It was an extraordinary sight for the young man, who had been called up for sea training just a few weeks before. Jim was aboard the HMS Wakakura when he witnessed this memorable event. His subsequent naval service saw him put to work as a range taker on HMS Monowai before he volunteered for what was highly secret work in the field of submarine detection. By March 1944 he was commissioned and finished the war as a Temp Sub Lieut.
Collection location Digital collection; private collection.
Publication information Published
Additional information
Kim Newth applied for and received the Canterbury History Foundation: 2014 Canterbury Community Historian Award after seeing the photographic record created by the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers for their nationwide WWII Veterans Portrait Project. These portraits were gifted to the RSA and form an archive of images for veterans, families, communities and New Zealand's generations to come. With the award Kim Newth was able to add biographies to some of the portraits, to uncover stories behind the faces. Christchurch members of NZIPP helped put Kim in touch with some of the veterans they photographed.
The collection includes the biographies written by Kim Newth, interview files, and some images.
Related pages
Personal reminiscences by Jim Calder
- Brief history [PDF 136 KB]
- Monowai [PDF 26 KB]
- Forgotten Thousands [PDF 63 KB]
Biographies
- View biography of James (Jim) Roland Calder. Service No: C5464 RNVR NZD.
- View biography of Jack Marshall, DFC. Service No: NZ391865.
- View biography of Francis Noel Smith. Service No: C5472.
- View biography of Evan "Snow" Williams. Service No: 639543.
- View biography of Owen William Wilson. 2NZEF Service No: 442436.
- View biography of Kenneth Raymond Wright. Service No: 445257.
Source
This material has been supplied to Christchurch City Libraries by Kim Newth.
Rights statement
Biographies, interviews and images supplied to Christchurch City Libraries.
This material has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research). Material may be available for reuse.
Reproduction
This material has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. Please contact Christchurch City Libraries if you have any questions relating to the use of this material. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.
