Lieut. (Kiwi) McNab, No2 Cdo

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 24/02/2009 21:12:40

I would be very interested to know if anyone has any news regarding this friend and officer. There is a possibility that he was domiciled in the Derbyshire area after 1966 or so. Of course, considering his age, 'Kiwi' may have passed on. I hope not. If anyone has noticed an obituary, I would like to know.

The career of Donald G. McNab is interesting. This much we know. He joined us in 2 Cdo. in June 1944. Although he said nothing of his previous service to us, we know that he came to us from the Royal New Zealand Engineers, the 8th Army, Italy, and that prior to that assignment he had controlled an intelligence unit in German-occupied Greece during 1941-42 under the auspices of S.O.E. He was commissioned from the ranks and was awarded an M.C. and the D.C.M. for his service deeds. (Not recorded in the book we know) Kiwi left us in 1945, returned to R.N.Z.E., and was promoted to the rank of Captain. I am told that he entered service (post-war) with the Royal New Zealand Air Force and became Squadron Leader D.G. McNab, M.C., D.C.M.

Beyond that I know nothing else about his life. His name and dates of service are not to be found in the records of 2 Cdo. This was a common practice concerning officers and men in the Commando who had interface activities between the Commando and S.O.E., although, I must say that what was laughingly referred to as our 'records' had many omissions.

It would be nice to have some news of Kiwi. He was a good friend and mentor about matters explosive and other clever engineering devices, and he was the ultimate joker and prankster. Thanks for the good times we enjoyed in the scenic tours of Yugoslavia, Italy and Albania. I hope you had a great life Kiwi !

- Bob

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 19/01/2008 22:38:46

Sergaent D. G. MacNab or McNab Served 6th Field Company New Zealand Engineers.

McNab was actually a member of Middle East Branch of MI9 recruited due to his expertise as an 'escaper'. His job was to help escapers in both Greece and Crete.

Bob......its funny you should mention that he enjoyed teaching you things about stuff that blows up..........whilst a sergeant he instructed the Greek Army.

Both of his awards are recorded under the list of the New Zealand Engineers so it is understandable why they are not in the book.

I`ll add a little bio for you to add to Commando Archives Bob:

Capt D. G. MacNab, MC, DCM; Wellington; born NZ 15 Jul 1916; commercial artist; wounded and p.w. 23 May 1941; escaped Jul 1941; with Special Service unit in Italy and in Balkans; wounded, Albania, 6 Oct 1944; Recruiting Officer, RNZAF.

Thank you for remembering Kiwi.

P.S. I forgot to add he wrote a book which was published in 1952 ?Salute to Colonel Bill?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 18/03/2009 09:26:34

The following is from an undated newspaper article from the Napier (New Zealand) area.

Bob Bishop's widow asked me to post this for general information.

His was a James Bond sort of war.
The story of Don McNab's war years has all the ingredients of a best-selling book or a box office hit movie.
This Taradale man experienced adventure. Intrigue, suspense and romance as an intelligence officer in the Second World War.
His actions in leading an escape party from Greece in 1941 earned him the Army's second highest award, the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and creating a diversion to draw enemy fire in a commando raid in Albania in 1944, the Military Cross.
Like so many returned servicemen he précis's events into bare facts like "after we escaped", or "my papers were confiscated by the Germans but I got them back later".
Mr McNab's response to the question as to how he came to get such jobs is simply "I had a bit of a flair for it".
"Yes, I was very much a spy but that wasn't a word that was ever spoken," he said.
"We were British intelligence officers.
Mr McNab was born in Napier (15 Jul 1913) and went to school at Napier Technical College.
He studied art at school and went to Wellington as an artist and copywriter for L.T. Watkins when he left school.
When war broke out Mr McNab joined up - a week after his wedding.
He went into the engineers as a sergeant as he had had Territorial experience, and he was still a sergeant when he got the DCM.
His explanation as to how he came to be in Greece is simply that General Freyberg "lent him" to the British Amy.
That was after he had been in the Western desert "doing camouflage work".
Mr McNab's official citation for the action which earned him the DCM states;
"Sergeant McNab was the leader of an organised party which left Greece for Turkey in October 1941.
"Every detail of the escape was carried out by Sergeant McNab himself. He managed to hire a boat - the money for which he obtained by collection from various Geek helpers. He collected together a party of escapers and sailed for Turkey. The skipper of the boast endeavoured to betray them (by trying to land them on the island of Samos which was occupied by Germans) and McNab took charge. He navigated the boat and reached Turkey successfully. (I had spent a lot of time on Wellington harbour.")
"By skilful manoeuvring and forced marching he managed to get his party right through the military area before being captured by the Turks."
According to a New Zealander who was in the escape party, Don Morice, the takeover of the boat by Don McNab was at pistol point and the safe arrival was made possible by the maps and charts supplied to him by the Greek underground which showed the Turkish and German minefields that had to be negotiated.
The cliffs were scaled, mountain leopards were encountered and two days were spent crossing a prohibited Turkish military area until friendly Turkish civilians provided food and drink.
One, not so friendly character reported their presence to the Turkish police, who, because they had come through a military zone, put them in prison for interrogation. The friendly civilians, meanwhile, had contacted the British Consul who arranged their release.
Don McNab, Bruce Morice continued, being the senior British soldier and having had contact with the Greek underground in Athens collated a full report covering the period in Greece and the escape. His documentation and (being an artist) his accompanying sketches were passed on to British authorities and he was duly awarded the DCM.
The citation ended with "Whilst in Greece Sergeant McNab ran an intelligence bureau in Athens for the collection of military information. On leaving Greece he collated all this and concealed it inside the lining of his clothing. It was discovered by the Turks during a search and confiscated. Sergeant McNab later managed to get the papers back and eventually passed them on to the British authorities."
Just how did he manage to get these papers back ?
"I got them back by swapping some information about the Germans with the Turks," he said.
Greece has remained important to Mr McNab's life and he has regular contact with friends there.
One of the reasons for that was his wish to know what happened to a woman who had been a close friend during his time in Athens. She had hidden him and helped teach him Greek which he described as good enough to fool the Germans but not good enough to fool the Greeks.
After a furlough back in New Zealand Mr McNab was commissioned and continued the war with a commando unit in Italy and the Balkans, making five operational jumps.
In late 1944 he was attached to "Houndforce" in the capture of Suranda in Albania, where he was badly wounded.
He earned the Military Cross for using special apparatus to simulate the noise and flashes of an attack.
This citation said:
"He led a small band of volunteers to within 400 yards of the enemy drawing a large portion of the enemy fire just before the main attack commenced. In this enemy counter battery fire Lieutenant McNab was thrown to the ground damaging his wrist, arm and shoulder.
However, he continued to lead his men over three miles of difficult territory eventually joining 40 Commandos. The staff officer had been killed and the sergeant wounded so Lieutenant McNab volunteered to take the job. He discovered as mass of mines and booby traps in houses and dumps. He warned of 3½ tons of explosives which unless removed would destroy the centre of the town.
He warned of a second possible explosion and, in the course of his work, one of his assistants disturbed a booby trap hidden in a mattress and both he and McNab were injured.?
He was taken to Naples Hospital to recover from his wounds and was told he would be taken wherever he wished when he was well.
The only place I wanted to be was Athens where I hoped to find my friend.
"Civil war had broken out when I got there. Someone told me where she was hiding and that area of the city was to be attacked. I had only a few hours to get her out".
He cared greatly for this woman who had helped him fit into the Greek world and he arranged with two other Greek friends to watch over her for him.
"I last heard of her four years ago when I was told she had bough a pensione on one of the Greek islands. She never married and apparently spoke often of me. I thought she would forget me".
Soon after he was back in the commandos, Mr McNab began suffering from horrendous headaches.
He was examined and the verdict was that he'd been through enough.
It was time to be sent home.
"I was not disappointed to go. Quite candidly I felt I had had all the luck in the world. It had to run out sometime".
Back home in civvy street Mr McNab was a sales manager for a Wellington printing and direct mail business.
He was described by an acquaintance as having steady eyes which gave you confidence in him and as being a natty dresser, one of the few to always wear a bow tie.
This acquaintance said he had been intrigued by Mr McNab having seen him at a military ball with his impressive row of "gongs" who had obviously been in the thick of things, but when he asked him the only reply he got was a wry smile. All he ever found out from someone else was that Mr McNab had been a resistance fighter somewhere.
Although Mr McNab had a colourful war, he had had an equally colourful life as an artist.
He was a pupil of the late Roland Hipkins, A.R.C.A. and Oliver Goldsmith A.R.D.S. and the Apoisti Etka School of Graphic Arts in Athens.
He represented New Zealand at an exhibition organised by UNESCO in Paris in 1962 alongside Braque, Buffet and Picasso.
Six of his paintings are included in the Imperial War Museum collection in London and others hang in private collections in many parts of the world including France, Canada, West Germany, Australia and the United States. He is an associate of the Royal Drawing Society and has been an artist member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts for more than 40 years.
In 1957, tired of civvy street, Mr McNab joined the RNZAF as a recruiting advertising officer for the Air Force. This was followed by appointments to SEATO and various Far East postings. He retired in 1970 (Squadron Leader).
Mr McNab's first wife, Moana, died and he remarried Maureen, who was Director or Wrens in New Zealand.
The couple lived in Tamatea until recently when they moved to Taradale (Napier).

Died, 27 May 1996

NB His widow insisted that he had been MID twice, but New Zealand Defence Force has no record of these. Perhaps they were during his time spent with the British Commando forces. Photos of him in uniform (1944 ??) show him with the MID emblem on his ribbon bar.