WO. John James Marshall

TAURANGA AIRMAN MARRIED. WARRANT-OFFICER J MARSHALL. RECOVERY FROM WAR INJURIES On September 15, 1912, a Sterling bomber crashed in flames on Us own airfield after returning from a raid on Duisburg. in Rhineland, and Flight-Sergeant Jack Marshall, of Tauranga. the radio operator, was trapped for several minutes before he could be rescued, states a London cablegram. For weeks his life was despaired of in the R.A.F. hospital at Ely. Cambridgeshire, for both his left had been amputated above the knee and his face was badly burned. But he recovered and on Saturday, now a warrant-officer, he walked down the aisle of St. Ethelreda's Church at Ely on his artificial limbs aided by his best man and a walking stick, to be married to Nurse Patricia Emilie Walthew. of Dublin, who had nursed him for six months. His best man was Squadron-Leader Arthur Colville, of Christchurch, who had also been in a bomber crash, had his arms and legs broken in 16 places, and had occupied the bed next to Warrant-Officer Marsha 11. After the ceremony, during which the bridegroom Sat in a wheelchair, a reception was held in the library at Ely Hospital. The guests included the New Zealand High Commissioner, Mr Jordan, and the New Zealand Minister of Supply. Mr, Sullivan, and Flight-Lieutenant IT. Mason, of Waipawa, who had flown over from France to attend the wedding. Another guest was Miss M. Thurston, R.R.C. who was matron-in-chief of the N.Z.E.F. in the last war. Miss Thurston, who now visits all members of the R.N.Z.A.F. in hospitals, was herself ill in Ely Hospital two years ago. All New Zealanders in hospital call her their "fairy godmother." There was a three-tier wedding cake, made from cakes sent from New Zealand, and iced by the hospital's catering officer. Warrant-Officer Marshall, who will receive a pension of £ 6 a week, and his wife, will one day sail for New Zealand. Source: Bay of Plenty Times, 10 January 1945, p. 2 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BOPT19450110.2.8.