Ref.no. 2024.16.6 Image may be subject to copyright restrictions
Rank:
Ordinary Seaman
Birth date:
1921
Service Number:
A/1910
Date Joined:
1940
Display No. 20C
Wass, Peter Thomas
Peter Thomas Wass was born in 1921 and attended Palmerston North Convent and Sacred Heart College for his education. At school he was interested in yachting, and sailed in a competition called the Sanders Cup trails using his own boat named Endeavour. He was a part of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve prior to the war, and once the Second World War began he volunteered for overseas service in 1940. Before leaving he undertook a special instruction course in Devonport at H.M.S. Philomel, and was posted to H.M.S. Wakakura, a mine sweeper and training ship.
Wass was a part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, comprising of 14 officers and 222 men, who left for England in April 1940. This contingent became the first of the New Zealand Volunteer Reserves to suffer casualties during the war.
Tragically, Wass was one of these casualties. He was serving on trawler H.M.S. Oswaldian in August 1940 when she was blown up by an enemy mine off the coast of South Wales. H.M.S. Drummer, another trawler – both which had been converted from Grimsby fishing trawlers – was also sunk at this time. Wass was one of three New Zealanders reported missing, believed killed, from the sinkings. Wass was the youngest, at 19 years.
Awarded medal(s)
The War Medal 1939-1945
The War Medal 1939-45 was awarded across the British Commonwealth to all full-time members of the Armed Forces in the Second World War for 28 days service between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945, irrespective of where they were serving. The ribbon is the red, white, and blue of the (British) Union Flag. There is a narrow central red stripe with a narrow white stripe on either side. There are broad red stripes at either edge, the two intervening stripes being blue.
A bronze oak leaf on the medal ribbon denotes that the recipient was Mentioned in Despatches. To be Mentioned in Despatches a member of the armed forces had their name mentioned in an official report, written by a superior officer, and sent to a higher command. The report would describe the individual’s gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.
The New Zealand War Service Medal
The New Zealand War Service Medal was awarded for 28 days’ full time service or six months’ part time service in the Second World War in any of the New Zealand Armed Forces including the Reserves, Naval Auxiliary Patrol Service, or Home Guard, between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945.