Bob Papps
Bob has a story printed about him in the Nelson Mail of July 14, 2009
World War II veteran Takaka's Bob Papps is believed to be the longest serving member of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association.
But after 63 years of service to the organisation he is finally giving up his voluntary activities, at the age of 86.
But the recipient of the Queen's Service Medal and the RSA's prestigious gold bar award, is not resting on his laurels.
Mr. Papps, a JP, operates a hairdressing business from his home on Fridays, plays golf regularly and grows vegetables and flowers in his Edinburgh St. garden.
His lifetime's RSA compassionate work was carried out on top of his regular work.
Unable to continue as a motor mechanic due to a back injury he sustained during the war, he became a barber for many years and then a familiar face in Golden Bay as the local reporter and photographer for The Nelson Mail, a position he held for 30 years.
It was the impact of his own wartime experience that led him to take on compassionate work for the RSA.
After joining the navy in 1940, Mr. Papps served in the Mediterranean, the Pacific and the Indian oceans and was awarded a George Cross Commemoration medal for his services in defence of Malta.
"Many people could never understand the trauma that young servicemen went through. They seemed OK on the outside but internally they were very unsettled after their experiences of war," he said.
"We did not experience the joys of youth as enjoyed others. Many through injuries could not return to previous occupations and I was one in that category having been injured on my ship in Port Sudan in March 1941."
As a result of a back injury he ended up in hospital in Alexandria and then Cairo, before continuing his sea-going duties several months later on HMNZS Leander. He said he was fortunate to survive the war after several "lucky escapes".
The ship he was originally supposed to join, HMS Neptune, was sunk with the loss of 700 crew, including 150 New Zealanders.
After joining the RSA immediately after the war he was elected to the executive committee of the Golden Bay RSA in 1947 and became vice-president in 1948.
He was president from 1965 to 1996 and in 1997 he was awarded the gold star and gold bar badge, the RSA's second-highest award.
During the 1950s Mr Papps and his late wife Betty became active in the social activities of the association, helping to produce several of the popular concerts cast local talent in the Golden Bay Theatre.
Mr. Papps was instrumental in the purchase of special breathing apparatus for two local World War I veterans suffering from the after-effects of being gassed.
This equipment was later used regularly the Medical Centre to help asthmatics.
Mr Papps made a plea for younger servicemen and women to join the organisation, fearing that the Golden Bay branch could close down in eight to 10 years unless it attracts new members.
Bob Papps in 2009, aged 86.
Photo by Hayley Gale.
Bob Papps had another story about him printed in the Nelson Mail of April 25, 2012...
Ninety-year-old Bob Papps, of Takaka, is one of the few veterans of World War II who served in both the Mediterranean and the Pacific.
The Royal Navy ships that he helped stoke dodged Luftwaffe bombs off the Syrian coast and fought kamikazes while they shelled Japanese factories at the end of the war.
He was spared from death several times during his years of service, most notably by getting a last-minute change of orders from the doomed HMS Neptune in 1940.
"I was scheduled to join the HMS Neptune in Alexandria," he recalls. "I got a last-minute transfer to join the HMS Leander instead. Only a few months later the HMS Neptune was sunk off the Libyan coast and there was only one survivor out of 750 men on board."
On the HMS Leander Mr. Papps made his way back to New Zealand passing through the Suez Canal, up the Persian Gulf and back across the Indian Ocean. He served on smaller ships escorting United States troops into Australia and American shipping liners to Hawaii throughout 1943.
Later in the war Mr Papps served on the HMS Tui hunting Japanese submarines around the Solomon Islands.
"Our ships were not fast enough to get away from our own depth charges," Mr. Papps said. "Whenever we would throw a charge all the lights on the ship would shatter. We did sink one Japanese sub in the Buca straits."
His final posting of the war was on board the bigger HMS Gambia which assisted the US Pacific fleet and shelled the eastern coast of Japan. In August 1945, Mr Papps’ ship was the last to come under attack by kamikaze pilots and narrowly avoided disaster.
"When the war ended we were there in Tokyo harbour alongside the USS Missouri for the Japanese surrender," Mr. Papps said. "I will never forget all that we went through to get there and all the men that died."
Many crew came from a particular area, and one of those was Takaka in Golden Bay, New Zealand. Takaka is in the north of South Island.
Men from Takaka, Golden Bay, New Zealand
Photo from Nelson Photo News, No 14 : December 9, 1961
The photo was given to the Nelson Photo News by Ed Peacock who served on HMNZS Gambia and Leander. Pictured from the left are Bob Papps, Charlie Stade (Motueka), Ian Feary, Ed Peacock, Norm Anderson, Watty Bird, and Dixon. Another crew member, Bruce King, was on duty when this photo was taken.
Ian Feary, Bob Papps, Eddie Peacock and Watty Bird in 1991
The men knew each other as children, joined the services together in 1939, served on HMS Gambia when it fired the last shots of World War II, and are still friends.
From New Zealand Geographic, The End of the Rainbow, Issue 10, April/June 1991. Photo by Arno Gasteiger.
You may recognize the framed print they are holding. It was used as the cover of HMNZS Gambia by Jack S. Harker. Moana Press, New Zealand, 1989
Bob and his wife at a Returned Servicemen's Association Cabaret At Motueka in 1968
Nelson Photo News, No. 98, December 14, 1968. Photo: John R. Sharp
Bob and his wife's Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1969
Nelson Photo News, No. 106, August 23, 1969
Bob was born in 1922 and passed away on April 16, 2015. He was an active member of the Returned Servicemen's Association and was awarded their Gold Star.