Page 119 - The Wish Stream Year of 2022

Found guilty, he was cashiered from the Army and served a year in prison, 8 months in Worm- wood Scrubs the remainder in Wakefield. The four-day bombing of Le Havre cost 2000 French lives and only 19 German. This, and the news- paper letter, led to a change in policy of indis- criminate bombing of occupied towns resulting in civilians being allowed to leave Calais before the attack and Dunkirk invested and by-passed until the end of the war.
After his release from prison, Douglas-Home became a prolific playwright, specialising in comedies with an upper class setting, the first,
RUSTY PAGE
James Russell Page was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 10 May 1908. He was educated at Southland’s High School where he was head prefect and cap- tain of the First XV Rugby team. Awarded a military scholarship he trained at
‘Now Barabbas’ was based on his experiences in prison. His 1947 play, ‘The Chiltern Hundreds’ was made into a film starring David Tomlinson and ‘The Reluctant Debutante’ (1955) was filmed twice, starring Rex Harrison in the first and, under the title ‘What A Girl Wants’, Colin Firth. On the opening night of ‘Chiltern Hundreds’, Sir Alec Douglas-Home left at the interval to attend a House of Commons vote. William had him driven back for the final curtain – so it did not look as if his esteemed brother had walked out! William Douglas-Home died in Hampshire in September 1992.
raised 26th Battalion New Zealand Infantry, part of 6th Infantry Brigade of 2nd New Zealand Divi- sion. The Division was sent to Greece to stem the German invasion in 1941 but, during a disas- trously managed campaign, the battalion acted as rearguard for the beachhead before being the last to be evacuated, having suffered 76 casual- ties. After refitting, the Division took part in Oper- ation Crusader, the plan to relieve the siege of Tobruk. Although the Kiwis captured their objec-
Sandhurst from 1927-28 and rep- resented London Scottish as well as being on the bench for Scot- land during an international. Page also met his future wife in the UK.
Commissioned into the New
Zealand Army Staff Corps, he
returned to his native country and
played for Wellington being called
into the All Blacks side against
Australia in 1931 as a late replacement travelling on an overnight train and playing within an hour of his arrival. Page, universally known as Rusty, was tiny by modern standards at five foot seven inches and 156 lbs but played three more tests against Australia the following year, scoring a try in the second, and played a further two in 1934, the first of which was as Captain, standing in for the injured Frank Kilby. Selected to tour Great Britain in 1935, he injured his knee in the second warm-up match, against Midland Counties, and this effectively ended his playing career. His vice- captain at the time said: “He was sadly missed as no other fly half in the side was so quick off the mark and his equal at finding openings.”
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, Page was selected to command the newly-
tives, this was an isolated success in a disastrous battle that cost the allies 560 tanks. Page was wounded in the action and later awarded the DSO, the citation stating: “He was at the forefront of the attack and was very severely wounded. His magnificent courage and leadership were the outstanding factors which contrib- uted to the great success that was achieved.... he was everywhere on
the battlefield.... his utter disregard of danger, his indomitable determination to win.... were over and over again responsible for the very fine achievements of the battalion he commanded.”
After recovering from his wounds, Page spent the rest of the war in New Zealand. Remaining in the Army after the war, he was awarded the CBE in 1954. He served as Adjutant General of the Army and Defence Attaché in Canberra before retiring as a Brigadier in 1963. He also served as a rugby administrator on the board of Wel- lington as an executive and later president and was also on the New Zealand RFU board. Rusty Page CBE DSO died in Auckland in 1985.
His magnificent courage and leadership were the outstanding factors which contributed to the great success that was achieved
HISTORICAL 117