Shield

Production date
Circa 1943
 Description
The L. F. Croker Memorial Shield. The wooden shield features a sterling silver fleur de lis mounted on a raised wooden central section. " L. F. CROKER MEMORIAL SHIELD " is marked on a scroll shaped plaque above this. " BOY SCOUTS " is marked on a scroll shaped plaque below it. " IN MEMORY OF / L. F. CROKER ( JIMMY ) / Scoutmaster of the Central Troop / Killed on active service overseas / with R.N.Z.A.F Feb. 7th. 1943 / PRESENTED BY HIS PARENTS " is also marked on a rectangular plaque. The shield is covered in small plaques recording the winners of the shield. The earliest winner is recorded as "A Simonson/ June /1943 " who shared it with Les Hine, while the last recorded winners were D Maw and D Johns /1966 ."
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Object detail

Production date
Circa 1943
Production place
New Zealand
Subject person
Classification
Ceremonial Artifact/Societal Artefacts
Collection
North Taranaki Scout District
Credit line
This shield was dedicated to the memory of L. F. (Jimmy) Croker, a Scout master at New Plymouth's Central Scout troop. Croker was serving with the RNZAF when he was killed on 7 February 1943. On a cross country exercise his Wellington bomber struck trees during an attempted emergency landing, killing the three crew who remained on board. The shield was presented for the first time at the Central Scout Group's birthday on 21 July 1944 to A. Symonson and Les Hine, by Jimmy Croker's parents. It was awarded to the best scout in the troop every six months until 1966.
Accession number
PA2011.038
Collection type
Social History
Material
Sterling Silver
Metal
Wood

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Public comments

Donna - I should add that my E Mail address is leshine@xtra.co.nz

- Leslie Alexander Hine posted 9 years ago.

Hi Donna - I am the Les Hine that was the first Co Joint Winner of rhis shield.When in England with the 1947 Scout Contingent I visited Jimmy's Grave as promised his Mother before I left. I joined the Troop after he had left for overseas but he was a hero in my eyes . Would like to contact you. I wrote an article in the Taranaki Scout History.

- Leslie Alexander Hine posted 9 years ago.

I’m really glad you discovered this shield Donna, given your family connection to Jimmy. You may already be aware of this, but there is some further biographical information on him in the book: Scouting New Plymouth and North Taranaki 100 Years of Scouting Memories p.163-165. The shield is not currently on display, but if you do want to view it in storage sometime then that can be arranged. Just email me at moffata@npdc.govt.nz Thanks for taking the trouble to get in touch.

- Andrew Moffat - Curator Social History posted 11 years ago.

This was really interesting, I didn't realise it existed. I am Leonard Francis Croker's great niece. Jimmy is buried in a commonwealth grave in the UK (Rutland). He was only 26 when he died.

- Donna Rutherford posted 11 years ago.

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