- Bevan and Peggy Wheeler and their four daughters
Arthur (Bevan) was the last of Tom and Louie's six children and the only one born after the family moved to farm on the Hauraki Plains.He matriculated from Ngatea District High School (now Hauraki Plains College) and worked in the Turua Post Office after leaving school until he joined the RNZAF in December 1940, training as a pilot at Whenuapai and Woodbourne, Nelson.
He left for England in July 1941 and completed operational training in Wellington bombers at Bassingbourne near Cambridge, before becoming a second pilot on Wellingtons. He left England for the Middle East, flying to Egypt via Gibraltar and Malta. Posted to the RAF's 70 Squadron, he completed a tour of air operations before being posted back to Britain as a flying instructor.
Bevan spent the next two years as an instructor at Upper Heyford near Oxford and it was during this period that he met and courted his wife Peggy May Griffiths, who was a leading Wren working on the secret code breaking machines at Bletchley Park that have now become a talking point but were cloaked in silence then and for many years after the war.
Bevan's war ended with a return to flying Halifax III bombers stationed at Topcliffe, Yorkshire, and then on to 192 Squadron at Foulsham, in Norfolk, a period of duty which included taking part in the heavy bombing of Germany which helped end the war but which attracted later criticism. In all he completed a total of 50 raids, and was awarded the DFC for his service.
Peggy and Bevan were married at St Michael's at the North Gate Church in Oxford in 15 September, 1945. They set up married life on a farm at Mangatarata on the edge of the Hauraki Plains - a change of pace which Peggy found very different and difficult compared to her Oxford life. She would recall that when she arrived on the farm she could not boil an egg, but with a typical drive for perfection she became the model farmer's wife, winning prizes for her baking at Woman's Division (of Federated Farmers.)
When Peggy and Bevan sold the farm in 1970 and moved to Auckland Peggy took up an administrative job for a building firm and got great enjoyment from city life again, while Bevan worked as a storeman at Fisher and Paykel and then as a self-employed lawn mowing contractor, a job he continued into his 70s. Like many of his siblings, he did not feel he was making a contribution unless he was working.
Peggy and Bevan had four daughters who were all born in Thames and had their primary education at Mangatarata. Peggy died in 1997 and Bevan lived on until 2003, but always felt the loss of his life companion.
Bevan's dates: Born 9 April, 1920, Thames
Died 18 Aug, 2003, Auckland.
Charles William sixth child of John and Maria
Married his cousing Mary Baylis
ing soon
He left for England in July 1941 and completed operational training in Wellington bombers at Bassingbourne near Cambridge, before becoming a second pilot on Wellingtons. He left England for the Middle East, flying to Egypt via Gibraltar and Malta. Posted to the RAF's 70 Squadron, he completed a tour of air operations before being posted back to Britain as a flying instructor.
Bevan spent the next two years as an instructor at Upper Heyford near Oxford and it was during this period that he met and courted his wife Peggy May Griffiths, who was a leading Wren working on the secret code breaking machines at Bletchley Park that have now become a talking point but were cloaked in silence then and for many years after the war.
Bevan's war ended with a return to flying Halifax III bombers stationed at Topcliffe, Yorkshire, and then on to 192 Squadron at Foulsham, in Norfolk, a period of duty which included taking part in the heavy bombing of Germany which helped end the war but which attracted later criticism. In all he completed a total of 50 raids, and was awarded the DFC for his service.
Peggy and Bevan were married at St Michael's at the North Gate Church in Oxford in 15 September, 1945. They set up married life on a farm at Mangatarata on the edge of the Hauraki Plains - a change of pace which Peggy found very different and difficult compared to her Oxford life. She would recall that when she arrived on the farm she could not boil an egg, but with a typical drive for perfection she became the model farmer's wife, winning prizes for her baking at Woman's Division (of Federated Farmers.)
When Peggy and Bevan sold the farm in 1970 and moved to Auckland Peggy took up an administrative job for a building firm and got great enjoyment from city life again, while Bevan worked as a storeman at Fisher and Paykel and then as a self-employed lawn mowing contractor, a job he continued into his 70s. Like many of his siblings, he did not feel he was making a contribution unless he was working.
Peggy and Bevan had four daughters who were all born in Thames and had their primary education at Mangatarata. Peggy died in 1997 and Bevan lived on until 2003, but always felt the loss of his life companion.
Bevan's dates: Born 9 April, 1920, Thames
Died 18 Aug, 2003, Auckland.
Charles William sixth child of John and Maria
Married his cousing Mary Baylis
ing soon