A project by the South Canterbury Genealogy Society is ensuring the stories of the men and women from South Canterbury who served in World War 2 are preserved and remembered. As the project progresses, society convener Liz Shea will be sharing some of these stories with The Courier. This week, we remember Waimate brothers Louvain and Vickers Cairns whose service and sacrifice spanned two very different theatres of war.
Louvain Trevor Cairns and Vickers Kitchener Cairns were the sons of Robert and Elizabeth Cairns of St Albans, Christchurch.
Louvain was born in Waimate on November 16, 1916, and attended Timaru Technical College.
He enjoyed playing football and was part of the first XI.
On leaving school he worked in various roles but on enlistment, his occupation was as a deer culler.
He enlisted in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in July 1940 and after initial training, was sent to Canada for more intensive training.
In May 1941, he transferred to England and completed training on Wellington bombers.
He was posted to the No. 75 (NZ) Squadron at Feltwell in Norfolk.
He participated in five operations spanning Germany and France.
A Flight Sergeant and RNZAF Service No. 402437, Louvain was reported missing and believed killed on July 26, 1942.
Along with his fellow crew members, Louvain took off from Norfolk aboard a Wellington bomber on an operational raid over Hamburg.
The aircraft failed to return and was lost without trace.
It was believed the bomber crashed into the sea as no bodies were ever recovered.
He was part of an all-New Zealand crew and his name was commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, panel 117.
Just over a year later, tragedy struck the Cairns family again.
Flight Sergeant Vickers Kitchener Cairns, RNZAF Service No. 38108, was killed on active service on September 23, 1943, while serving in the Pacific.
In March 1943, he was posted to Laucala Bay, Suva.
He flew Catalinas with No. 6 Squadron RNZAF.
The squadron carried out anti-submarine patrols, monitored suspected enemy shipping and kept watch for hostile aircraft across the Pacific theatre.
On the night of September 23, 1943, Vickers was aboard PBY-5 Catalina NZ4002/B during a ‘‘circuits and bumps’’ nightflying exercise from Laucala Bay.
The aircraft reportedly climbed to about 250ft before suddenly plunging into the bay only a few hundred yards offshore.
All four crew members were killed.
The probable cause was later determined to be incorrectly set elevator trim tabs, which caused the aircraft to become uncontrollable shortly after take-off.
Vickers’ name is recorded on the Bourail New Zealand War Cemetery memorial.
Born on December 26, 1914, in Waimate, he was also educated at Timaru Technical College.
His occupation on enlistment was carpenter.
Vickers enlisted in the RNZAF in 1937 and was engaged as a carpenter.
In 1941, he started flying training at Wigram later training on flying boats.
Vickers was the husband of Marion Isabel Cairns nee McGeorge (married 1941), of Christchurch, who was listed as next of kin.
Today, both brothers are remembered together on their father’s grave at the Timaru Cemetery, row 144, plot 653.
Two brothers, both flight sergeants in the RNZAF, both claimed by the sea in wartime service and both forever linked in memory and sacrifice.
