26 LISTENER SEPTEMBER 14 2019
L
es did not live to see his son become
any of those things. Less than two
weeks later, he was fatally wounded
in an encounter with a Japanese force at
Mono Island, in the Solomon Islands.
The battle is recounted in The Pacific, the
official New Zealand war history by Oliver
A Gillespie.“... Closer to the beach, inside the
perimeter in a strongpoint covering a barge
drawn up on the sand, was a small force of
nine men, six New Zealanders and the three
American members of the barge crew, under
Captain L. J. Kirk.
Late on the night of 1 November, between
sixty and ninety Japanese attacked the west
perimeter, using grenades, mortars, and
machine guns in an attempt to reach the
landing barge. Before midnight the field
telephones joining strongpoints with the
commander had been put out of action bygrenades, and the groups fought indepen-
dently of each other. Japanese infiltrated
through the perimeter and attempted to break
Kirk’s small garrison, which was armed with
hand grenades, one tommy gun, and two
machine guns taken off the barge.
The first assault came at 1.30am, killing
Staff-Sergeant D.O. Hannafin and wounding
Kirk, whose skull was creased with a bullet.
He recovered and kept directing the defence.
When the machine guns were hit and put
out of action, Kirk and his men held off the
Japanese with hand grenades. A suggestion
to abandon the strongpost and withdraw to
the main defence position was discarded in
favour of holding out until daylight. Soon
afterwards Kirk was again wounded, this
time fatally, though he survived until the next
day.”Leslie James Kirk died on November 2,
1943, and is buried at the Bourail New
Zealand war cemetery in New Caledonia.
He was Mentioned in Despatches in rec-CAognition of “distinguished services”.
ME
RO
N^ F
AM
ILY
CO
LL
EC
TIO
N
FROM THE ARCHIVES
The Pacific War
Thousands of New Zealanders fought
with their mostly American and
Australian allies against the Japanese
in World War II in three main conflict
areas – Singapore, in the seas around
Japan and in the Solomon Islands. In
November 1942, New Zealand troops
began arriving in New Caledonia, and
from there were sent to Guadalcanal
from August 1943. That October, the
Kiwis also arrived on Mono Island,
in the Solomons’ Treasury group, to
successfully take it from the Japanese
defenders.
SOURCE: NEW ZEALANDERS IN THE PACIFIC WAR, NZHISTORY.
NET.NZClockwise from top left: Captain Les Kirk (third
from left) with officers in Fiji; the beach landing
on Mono Island (Turnbull Collection); an extract
from Kiwi News; snaps of Les in Fiji; his letters
home.POSTSCRIPT:
Christopher did not follow his father to
Grammar, nor did he go to the Quaker-
run Friends School in Whanganui, as Les
had wished should he not return from the
war. Molly, who had returned to teach-
ing, became secretary of the War Widows’
Association and took a role in December
1946 in Tauranga, aiding a returned sol-
dier who had come home to find his wife
gone and young sons scattered.
Molly helped restore the household
and in 1949 married the soldier, Charles
Cameron. When Christopher was a
teen, his stepfather formally adopted
him without discussion, and he became
Christopher Cameron. He is now 84, and
lives in Auckland. He never did become a
good runner, but he did row, dance and
try his best to be fairly good at everything.
The Kirk name continued – my two sisters
and I have it as middle names, as do our
children. Several of Les’ letters are framed
on our walls, a remembrance of the man
who drew kisses, not crosses. l“When the machine guns
were hit and put out ofaction, Kirk and his men
held off the Japanese
with hand grenades.Soon afterwards Kirk
was again wounded,this time fatally.”