Una was born in South Africa where she worked as a shorthand typist. When war broke out, she became a voluntary nurse at a military hospital in Pietermaritzburg tending the injured soldiers who were transported from distant fronts.
George Harrison (‘Kiwi’) - who after the war became the first National President of the 28th Maori Battalion – was one of those soldiers. He was badly wounded in El Alamein in Egypt and had to be shipped out to the Military Hospital in South Africa. Mum was his nurse.
Our parents married in South Africa before coming to New Zealand in 1944 to settle down and eventually raise five children. Mum recalls the primitive rural conditions she came to with her wounded husband, and how different it was to South Africa. She lacked any cooking, sewing, knitting and vegetable growing skills and had to learn these quickly - and many more - to survive.
She had no family here, and in fact it would be 41 years before she saw any of her family again. Letters were the only form of communication.
Over time, something Mum learnt was doing the accounts and grading and packing hot house tomatoes as my parents decided to make this their livelihood. They went on to become the second largest hothouse tomato growers in NZ, and the first to export.
When Dad passed away in 1980 Mum took up oil painting and enjoyed that for many years. She also travelled extensively with groups and did campervan trips with her daughters who lived in Europe and Egypt. It’s hard to imagine the diminutive lady in Room 8, once did a predawn ‘runner’ from a Bulgarian hospital after removing the drip lines from her arm.
Mum received her Queen’s birthday card and message when she turned 100, four years ago, but that was not her first acknowledgement from the Queen. On 2nd June 1953 when Princess Elizabeth was crowned Queen Elizabeth, Mum was otherwise engaged - giving birth to what she and Dad hoped was a baby boy - (there were no scans 69 years ago!) The doctor and parents were astounded when daughter Joss appeared followed by her twin brother George. This total surprise package made Mum and Dad part of a small group of people with ‘Coronation Twins’ – for which they received a congratulatory telegram from the Queen.
Mum sadly can no longer remember the most remarkable story about her pregnancy with the twins. Every day Mum would lie down and rest in the afternoon, and every day when she did, two fantails would come into the bedroom and sit on her dressing table mirror. After the twins were born, the birds were never seen again. This was verified by Dad and other family members.
Mum moved into the Kerikeri retirement village in 2019 and enjoys the activities the Village offers as well as the long corridors which are excellent for walking along. She wears a tracker to alert staff to her occasional quiet exit through a door, as sometimes the outside is simply too tempting. She often comments on how kind and helpful everyone is, and this is so appreciated as she is now very reliant on others to help her navigate this stage of her life.
We, her five ‘children’ (Sandra, Cherrill, Joss, George, Cathy) feel enormously privileged to have been a major part of Una Harrison’s long and unique story.
Pictured below from left to right: Joss, Cherrill, daughter-in-law Karen, Una, George & Sandra
Back
