SLJ Week 2 Day 4 Activity 1 and 2

🌎           Toby's Summer Learning Journey    🌎

Activity 1

An eventful experience

The 1st Enemy strike for the NZ Navy
On the 13th December 1939 a NZ Navy boat called the HMS Achilles hit an enemy German boat called Graf Spee. HMS Achilles was the first NZ navy boat to take part in a battle and to hit the enemy in World War 2.
 NZ Navy - HMS Achilles

VE Day - The war ended on 7th May 1945 but was not announced until 8th May 1945. New Zealand did not celebrate the end of the war until 9th May. They were told by the acting Prime Minister to go to work on the 8th May and had to wait until they were told that the war was over before they could celebrate! 

Activity 2

A Call to Arms (I chose someone from the 1st world war - reason given below!)

I read about Private Henry Nicholas who got the VC on the 11th Jan 1917. He was awarded it in July 1917 by King George V. I chose him because his last name is the same as my dad's first name.

Why did he get the Victoria Cross

On the 3rd December 1916 Private Henry Nicholas from the 1st Batallion Canterbury Infantry Regiment killed 12 Germans using hand grenades and a bayonet and captured 4 Germans in Polderhoek, Belgium.

Henry Nicholas was born on the 11 June 1891 and died on 23rd October 1918 (three weeks before the end of the war). He was just 27 when he died.