Robert William Young (1935 - 2010)

Born 24 Apr 1935 in Wellington, New Zealand

Ancestors

Died 31 Oct 2010 at age 75 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

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Biography

Robert William Young, known as Bob, was born at Wellington, New Zealand on 24th April 1935, the third child and first son of Dulcie Anita Crozier and her husband Robert Edward [Bob] Young. While he was quite small his parents moved to Wanganui where they settled. Photographs of Bob as a youngster in Wanganui before he started school are labelled "Robberty-Bob", apparently the name he was known by within his mother's family.

After leaving school Bob joined the New Zealand Army in the Infantry. In the initial stages he was Private #623542 but eventually rose to the rank of Sergeant.

1st Battalion, NZ Regiment; Scrapbook regarding Terendak Camp, Malacca, Malaya, 1961–1963 • MS-2010-26  (Reference Number) • 2010/26  (Registration Number) -Period 1961 - 1963 ≈Description: Scrapbook containing press cuttings, typescripts, printed ephemera, maps and photographs, compiled by 1st Battalion, New Zealand Regiment, regarding its time stationed at Terendak Camp, Malacca, Malaya, from 24 January 1961 to 7 May 1963 ≈1st Battalion, New Zealand Regiment - Scrapbook regarding Terendak Camp, Malacca, Malaya, 1961 - 1963. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tamaki Paenga Hira. MS-2010-26. “Formed at Waiouru on 1 August 1957, the 1st New Zealand Regiment replaced the New Zealand SAS squadron in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency in December 1957. The unit formed part of the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group in the Ipoh Taiping area of Northern Malaya and commenced anti-terrorist operations in the jungles of Perak State. Following a two-year tour of duty, the Battalion was replaced in November 1959, by the 2nd Battalion (2nd NZ Regiment), which had formed earlier in July that year. Two years later, in 1961, 1st NZ Regiment resumed duty, moving down to Terendak, Malacca, Malaya, for a two-year tour as part of the Commonwealth Strategic Reserve until 1963. The Battalion remained in Singapore almost continuously through to 1989, with sub-units detached for service in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970.”

marriage to Colleen Clarice Roberts and they had 3 children, Shari (1965), Donna (1967), and Darren (1971).

He married again later in life. His second wife was Marion Elizabeth Jean Heslop (nee Davis).

At the age of 75 Bob died at Christchurch on 31st October 2010. ^[1] On 4th November his body was buried at Shands Road Cemetery in Prebbleton, Christchurch.

New Zealand Army authorities arranged the creation and erection of a plaque commemorating his involvement in the Commonwealth Strategic Reserve unit in Terendak, Malaysia. It reads…

Robert W Young; Sgt #623542; Malaya Borneo, RNZIR New Zealand Regiment; died 31 October 2010 … Unit badge … aged 75 years.

Sources

1. ↑ New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs Births, Deaths & Marriages Online digital index; Registration of Deaths (www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz): Robert William Young, born 24 April 1935, registration number 2010/ 27024; confirmed date 31 October 2010

• His wife Colleen