17
A Career to Build

Our welcome home in November 1945 was terrific. What a wonderful sight it was to see my parents, my older brother and my three sisters on the Wellington wharf to meet me. Formalities were soon over and they drove me across the Rimutakas into the Wairarapa and back to the longed-for familiar places I had left nearly six long years before. Home at last!

I relaxed and partied until the Christmas break was over and, when my final discharge came through in February 1946, I was free to pursue my career. Now 68 years old, my father was anxious to retire and I had decided to re-join the family firm. Arriving at the factory on the first morning, he sat for a moment on his chair in his office and then stood up, walked round from behind his desk and said, “Now you sit there — you're the Boss”. I was nonplussed, but did what I was told. The hand-over was brief, complete and quite unexpected, but I had a lot to learn.

On the boat coming home, we had been fed with a lot of page 197 political guff and one paper produced by Prime Minister Peter Fraser stated no soldier who had served overseas should be worse off because of his service. This set my mind working and I decided I had lost six years of business experience which I wanted to make up as quickly as possible. No such business course was available in New Zealand, but at Harvard University in the United States an ‘Advanced Management Program’ of three months duration had been set up during the war as a pressure course which was ideal for my purpose. My application was accepted for the 13th programme in May 1948, so I applied for a grant to help with my expenses and was allotted US$800, about half what I needed. I was the first New Zealander accepted on this course which proved to be just what I had hoped for. My father took a bit of persuading, but he eventually relented and let me go.

By my 30th birthday in March 1947, I was still living at home and while it was very pleasant it was also time to move on. Most of the girls I knew had been snapped up and I was lagging behind. Three of the Beetham girls living next door had been married but there was one left — Ana — the prettiest of them all, who was soon to have her 22nd birthday. Was she too young? Of course not, but maybe I was too old. We started going out together and we clicked. Bingo, the girl next door was the best of them all so, one moonlit night, sitting out on our verandah, I proposed and to my delight was accepted.

We were married on August 30 1947 and we planned she should come with me to Harvard for a second honeymoon. Not long after we were married Ana passed the remark that I was “old and spent and 31″. Thirty-one, yes, but I proved her wrong on the other count as we had four lovely children. My father provided a home for us in the cottage next door, which he had built as a dower house for his mother. We added on some rooms as the family grew and were very happy there with a swimming pool next door and a tennis court of our own.

Business was booming with over 1,000 wool presses on back order. There were problems with the supply of parts, our production processes, and other companies copying our products, yet we solved the problems and survived the setbacks — and began expanding. There was even time for community involvements: the Masterton Trust Lands Trust, chairing General Finance Wairarapa and the board of WFCA Ltd before Wright Stephenson's made an offer the shareholders could not refuse.

Then there were the six years, beginning in 1963, representing Wairarapa for National in the House of Representatives. Very much a back bench member of parliament, I nevertheless chided Major Jack Marshall, Major Duncan McIntyre and Corporal Robert Muldoon — at the time all senior cabinet ministers — for their tardiness, 20 years before, in their approach to Trieste. Jack Marshall was commander of D Squadron of the Divisional Cavalry with Rob Muldoon one of his corporals, while Duncan McIntyre commanded C Squadron. Divisional Cavalry was never a match for the 22nd Battalion I would tell them. It did not affect our relationship because we became good friends, particularly Jack Marshall who was very supportive of every political endeavour I undertook. Duncan was good company and Rob Muldoon was generous in his book The Rise and Fall of a Young Turk about my particular exploits. In part, he wrote:

“Haddon Donald, who had come into the House as member for Wairarapa in 1963 was one of our most hardworking backbenchers. He was conscientious, honourable and played his politics straight down the middle. He disliked the rough-and-tumble and was never involved in incidents in the House and, by many people's standards, was an ideal member. He would make no concessions to popularity however, and would not kiss a baby for a thousand votes, let alone one.”

Both Rob and Jack became prime ministers and Duncan was a very successful minister of agriculture, while my tenure in politics lasted a mere two terms.

During my first term I sat next to another new member of parliament, Sir Leslie Munro, who had been chairman of the United Nations Security Council, and became more and more frustrated when prime minister Keith Holyoake did not promote him. I had no such ambitions, but it was an honour to be asked by the prime minister to present the ‘Address in Reply’ at the beginning of the 1964 parliamentary session. I was strongly committed to decentralization: at Harvard I saw the ideas and energy pouring out of a small town; I had seen during the war how once prosperous parts of Egypt had been ignored and how the desert took over. Unfortunately, Keith Holyoake did not consider decentralisation an election winner, so that was that. I retained my seat in 1966, but lost it in 1969.

I had given 12 years of my life to my country — six years in the army risking my life and six years in politics risking my reputation and I felt that was enough.

In Masterton, I bought back Mahunga Farm, which had been my grandmother's home for many years, complete with the Mahunga Golf Course, which was soon subdivided from the property. They made me their patron, so I had to learn to play golf. With politics out of my system and the business going well, I enjoyed the challenge of learning about farming and developing the remaining 120 acres. From over 100 white pines that had come down during the Wahine storm in 1967, we also built a new home, with views over the golf course and with the Tararuas as a backdrop.

Donald Presses, which had been operating at three different locations, consolidated in the large, now vacant, Phillip Morris factory. It thrived under the direction of our son Andrew, with staff numbers climbing to 80. Rapid expansion meant page 200 the need for more stock and more borrowing with the banks eager to lend. Then, in 1984, came Roger Douglas and his brutal attack on the farming community. When farmers are threatened they simply button up their pockets and stop spending — and this they did Sales dwindled and banks panicked, their response the raising of interest rates from 9 to 29 percent, with a penalty rate of 31percent. When a large dollop of personal money was given to support the company, and the bank promptly took it, there was little option but to sell to Allflex, the Palmerston North ear tag company. By this time any equity had bled away and Andrew and I, the only shareholders, received one dollar each.

Ana and I retired to Taupo in 1988 where we have a pleasant home with a stunning view over the lake towards Mount Tauhara. The ever changing scene with its different lights and colours is very therapeutic. Andrew has taken over our house at Mahunga and is running the farm. So life goes on.

During the post-war years we have kept in touch with ‘Scotch’ Paterson, now living on Waiheke Island where he spends some of his time busking on the street with his guitar, collecting for various charities.

Terry McLean, who was my adjutant during the final phases of the war in Italy, has been a frequent and welcome visitor, and Ana and I had the pleasure of being invited to his 90th birthday in Auckland. By then, with a knighthood and being a well-known celebrity, there was a good deal of media and public attention given to the event. Terry was confined to a wheel-chair, but his mind was bright and he replied humorously to the many expressions of praise about his ability as an author and reporter of rugby events. In the course of these replies he also mentioned his experience as my adjutant in the 22nd during the last months of the war in Italy. He was very extravagant in his remarks about his old CO so I opened my reply by saying, “Do you know, Terry, you do talk a lot of page break

Decorations: DSO, MC (2), 1939/45, Africa and Italy Stars, DEF, UK, NZ 1990 Comm., Ed USA Legion of Merit (Off).

At Suda Bay, Crete with Angelo Markoulis from San Francisco in May 1980.

Our family, photographed at our Taupo home in 1997 on the occasion of our 50th wedding anniversary.
From left, standing: Tom Donald, Anne Donald, Toby Donald, Sam Donald, Jason Williams, Manu Donald, Nichola Shanley, Kevin Wilson, Rhys Donald.
In front: Zachary Donald, Andrew Donald, Fiona Donald, Haddon and Ana Donald, Rhodes Donald, Robyn Williams, Tarn Donald.
Kneeling: Matthew Donald, Potiki Te Rangiita, Ana-Marie Te Rangiita, Ben Wilson.
Inset: Geoffrey Williams, Jennifer Bell.

page break Trieste.

Painting by Kennedy Malin of the Tribunale under attack by our tanks on May 2 1945.

The Tribunale in May 2005.

The President of the Trieste Council and me in May 2005 during the formal reception for 105 veterans of the Italian Campaign. We are looking at the book ‘Trieste Diary’ written by Sylvia Sprigge, which tells the story of the fall of Trieste in 1945. As well as the reception, there was a cocktail party where we met British, Italians and Americans resident in Trieste, and a celebratory dinner.

page break Trieste again, in May 2005.

The ceremony at the Memorial of San Giusto.

Members of 22nd Battalion at the Battalion lunch,

and in Udine Cemetery at the grave (centre) of L/Cpl David Russell, awarded the George Cross after his execution by the Germans for refusing to name Italian helpers.

page break

Reunion of 22nd Battalion veterans at Katikati in 2003.

Original members of 14 Platoon at the 2001 Napier Reunion; from left: Allan Foster, H V D, Len Earnshaw, Fred Ulyatt, Tui Nesbitt, Eric Whale.

The 22nd Battalion Colours

page 201 bullshit”. This brought a laugh from the guests and a wry smile from Terry. “Just like old times,” he said as I went on to tell the assembly something of his considerable contribution as a soldier. Sadly he is no longer with us.

Looking back over the years, I have always been happiest when there was a project to work on and probably my most satisfying individual achievement was the assembly of woolpresses with such expertise that it made our factory hum with activity. The transformation of Mahunga farm from a derelict wilderness into a bountiful operation was also very rewarding.

The subduing of the fighting in Trieste within 24 hours of entering the city at the end of the Second World War was also extremely satisfying. And the writing of a book at the age of 88 has been a formidable challenge, but Marco Vucetic's “Sir, nothing is not possible!” has kept me going.

Little of the happiness of my post-war life would have been possible without the love and harmony of an understanding partnership and, for this, I give Ana and our family my heartfelt thanks.