Wally Tarr

Ancestors

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Biography

Wally Tarr has Scottish Ancestors.

Wally Tarr has Irish ancestors.

Wally Tarr has English ancestors.

Wally Tarr is Notable.

Laurence Walter (Wally) Tarr was born on the 18 May 1924 in Ohaupo, Waipa, Waikato, New Zealand.^[1]
He is the son of George Tarr and Winifred (Andrew) Tarr.^[2]

Wally served in the 2nd World War in the RNZAF

Military decorations

Medals and Awards
1. British Empire Medal (BEM)
BEM. 1958
2. War Medal 1939-1945
3. New Zealand War Service Medal

From 1955 to 1958 Laurence was with Sir Edmund Hillary at Scott Base in Antarctica as Mechanic for the Beaver Aircraft used on the base as part of The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. He was awarded the Polar Medal in 1958 for his services.

He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War 2 from 1939 to 1945 and in The 1958 Queen's Birthday Honours in New Zealand, on June 12 1958 he was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the Commonwealth.^[3]

Tarr, Sergeant Lawrence Walter (Wally). (1924–2012) Aircraft mechanic

Polar Medal, British Empire Medal.
Educated Hamilton Technical College and Druleigh College, Auckland.
He was a member of the Air Training Corps, before entering the RNZAF in 1943, training as a flight mechanic and engine fitter.
He had wide overseas experience, serving in Fiji between 1947–49, and in Cyprus with No. 14 (Fighter) Squadron between 1952–54.
He was a sergeant stationed at Ohakea RNZAF Base, with a reputation for skilled work and high standards when he volunteered for TAE and was selected as an engine fitter.
In 1961 he took officer training and served as an engineering officer at Hobsonville and Wigram.
He also served in the United States overseeing production of the RNZAF’s fleet of Hercules aircraft.
He retired from the RNZAF in 1976 and built light commercial aircraft.^[4]

On the 17 Apr 1979 in Coromandel, Thames-Coromandel, Waikato, New Zealand, he married Helen Elizabeth (Anderson) Tarr, of Buffalo, Johnson, Wyoming, United States.
He had met Helen whilst he was posted in the United States (1965) learning about the Andover and Hercules Aircrafts, which he helped bring to New Zealand for the Air Force.

Wally died 10 Jun 2012. from complications associated with stroke.^[5] (Note his first name change)(Note that his gravestone bears the name spelling Laurence Walter TARR not Lawrence Walter TARR.)

Wally's Tarr Ancestors originate from the Devon area in the United Kingdom, with many of his ancestors having lived and worked around Exmoor, Dulverton, Tiverton and some even from Yealmpton further South around Plymouth. In his direct line there are farmers and farm workers, carpenters and even a Master Baker. His Andrew Ancestors on his mothers side, hail from Paisley, Glasgow, but of Irish ancestry being from County Tyrone, Ireland.

Wally has a mountain named after him on Mt Erebus in Antarctica. Tarr Nunatuk. ^[6]

Of the many rock formations on Mount Erebus, on the northwest upper slope of the active cone near a former exploration camp site, lava flow has formed a prominent outcropping called Nausea Knob, named for the nausea caused by elevation sickness. Also on the northwest slope sits Tarr Nunatak, named by the New Zealand Geographic Board in 2000 for then Sgt. L.W. Tarr, an aircraft mechanic with the New Zealand contingent of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

^[7] Feature n.14 in ACAN minutes of 19/06/2000. A nunatak rising to c. 1700 m on the NW slope of Mount Erebus, Ross Island. The feature is 1.2 mi SSW of Abbott Peak. Named by NZGB (2000) after Sgt. L W (Wally) Tarr, RNZAF, aircraft mechanic with the New Zealand contingent of the CTAE, 1956-58.

From wikipedia ^[8]: Also on the northwest slope sits Tarr Nunatak, named by the New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) in 2000 after Sgt. L.W. Tarr, an aircraft mechanic with the New Zealand contingent of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. ^[9]

Last RNZAF rank
Post WW2 1 December 1976
Retired
Squadron Leader
Royal New Zealand Air Force

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/Search.aspx?Path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dbirths NZBDM Citing Birth. Record #1924/28238. Tarr, Laurence Walter. Mother: Edith Winifred. Father: George Albert Sankey.
2. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LYKH-XC6
3. ↑ https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C141732
4. ↑ https://nzaht.org/conserve/explorer-bases/hillarys-hut-scott-base/crew/
5. ↑ https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/Search.aspx?Path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Ddeaths NZBDM Citing Death. Record #2012/14128. Tarr, Lawrence Walter. DoB: 18 May 1924.
6. ↑ https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2001-ln3189
7. ↑ https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=134200]
8. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Erebus
9. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210602234015/https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:17826

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recipients_of_the_Polar_Medal
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Birthday_Honours_(New_Zealand)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Special_Honours_(New_Zealand)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Erebus
• https://web.archive.org/web/20210602234015/https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:17826
• Family knowledge
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LYKH-XC6