Museum seeks photo of soldier who never came back

Otago Daily Times

07-06-2025

As the 75th anniversary of the Korean War's outbreak approaches on June 25, a local museum hopes to locate a photograph of one of the men who never returned.
Between 1950 and 1957, about 4700 New Zealanders served in Kayforce under United Nations command, and another 1300 served on Royal New Zealand Navy frigates.
Forty-five New Zealand servicemen died, 33 of them killed in action.
The Dunedin Roll of Honour in the Lost Generations Room at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum recounts the stories of those lost in war.
Three Dunedin soldiers are known to have been killed during the Korean conflict: Oliver (Jim) Cruickshank, Richard Long and Edward Allnatt.
The museum has been unable to track down an image of Edward Allnatt, and hopes someone locally can supply a photograph.
Exhibition developer William McKee said the museum relied heavily on the generous support of wider whānau in the community to locate images for its digital Roll of Honour.
"We are yet to track down a portrait of Edward.
"He had strong connections to North Otago and Blenheim, but Edward spent a lot of time in Dunedin in the 1930s and 1940s, so hopefully, there might be a friend or relative out there that could help complete his record."
Curator Sean Brosnahan has compiled biographies of the three soldiers.
Born in Oamaru in 1927 and raised in Dunedin, Edward Allnatt had been working as a driver in Blenheim when he volunteered for Kayforce, New Zealand's contribution to the United Nations campaign to repel North Korea's invasion.
He served as a gunner with the 16th Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery.
On November 26, 1951, he was in a truck ferrying ammunition when it was hit by a shell and he subsequently died of his wounds at only 24.
Allnatt lies at rest in the United Nations Cemetery, Busan, South Korea.
In 2003, his brother Wally accepted the newly established New Zealand Operational Service Medal on his behalf, an honour recognising the 49 service personnel who have died on active duty since 1945.
Oliver (Jim) Cruickshank was born in Glasgow in 1938.
He and his brother Michael were sent to Otago in 1941 as wartime child evacuees.
For four years they attended John McGlashan College, boarding with relatives Jim and Jean Kirkland on their farm near Mosgiel.
Returning to Scotland after the war, Cruickshank enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1946, was commissioned as a pilot officer in 1950 and served overseas on detachment with the Royal Australian Air Force from February 1951.
He was one of six chosen from 150 RAF volunteers to fly reconnaissance with the Royal Australian Air Force in Korea, piloting the first British aircraft to cross Communist lines.
On October 2, 1952, Chinese MiGs attacked his plane while he was on an unarmed photographic reconnaissance mission over North Korea.
After taking evasive action and running low on fuel, Oliver had to bale out but his parachute failed to open. His body was never recovered. He was 24 and is remembered on the United Nations Wall of Remembrance at Busan in South Korea.
Dunedin-born warrant officer Richard Long became one of New Zealand's first casualties in the Korean War when guerrillas ambushed his jeep near Samnangjin-ni on January 13, 1951.
Born in 1920 and educated at King Edward Technical College, Long left Dunedin for Auckland, where he worked in a Ponsonby grocery before joining the artillery in 1942. He served in the Pacific for a year then trained as a pilot and flew with the Royal New Zealand Air Force from 1943 to 1945. When the government called for volunteers for Kayforce in 1950, he returned to the artillery with the rank of warrant officer.
Long and his travelling comrade Gunner Ronald MacDonald were travelling by jeep about 13km from camp when machine-gun fire struck. MacDonald died instantly. Long was captured, forced to march five kilometres to a village and shot as his captors withdrew. He was 30.
The pair were the New Zealand contingent's first losses. Long is buried in the United Nations Cemetery at Busan.
In 2003, his cousin Lois Burleigh accepted the newly created New Zealand Operational Service Medal on his behalf. CAN YOU HELP?
Toitū Otago Settlers Museum is seeking an image of Edward William Allnatt, who died of his wounds at only 24 while serving during the Korean conflict. If anyone has further information, please email [e-mail] or visit www.toituosm.com
[e-mail]