SEPTEMBER 14 2019 LISTENER

V

alentine’s Day, 1940. Les

Kirk, the teacher in charge

of the rural school of

Kōkopu, Northland, had

much in his life to love.

There was his wife, Molly.

They had met at teachers’

training college in Auck-

land and married just before Christmas

in 1933. Les loved teaching, his music – he

had played cornet with Epi Shalfoon’s

‘I would rather be with you’

A trove of wartime letters from Kirsty Cameron’s

grandfather to her father reveals a soldier’s loving

guidance to his young son.

CA

ME

RO

N^ F

AM

ILY

CO

LL
EC

TIO

N

dance band at the Crystal ballroom – and

rowing for the West End club. He also loved

his son. Four-year-old Christopher had the

Kirk mouth and Les’ lanky legs, and his

colouring came from Molly’s Ngāti Porou

blood. He was their only child, adored but

not spoilt, although certainly nurtured in

a more child-centric environment than

his parents’ generation had been.

On that Valentine’s Day, Les signed

his name to another evocation of love,

the Oath of Attestation to serve King and

country. New Zealand was at war and Les

was one of the 104,000 who would serve

This article

ran in the

April 28, 2012,

Listener and is

being re-run to

mark the 80th

anniversary

of the start of

World War II.

FROM THE

ARCHIVES

Kirsty Cameron is the editor of Auckland

magazine the Hobson.