Newspaper Article 2015 – War vet who couldn’t slow down

War vet who couldn’t slow down

SIMON HENDERY

OBITUARY

Even at 95, New Zealand’s last surviving veteran of the Spanish Civil War kept Hawke’s Bay shopkeepers on their toes with daily visits he timed with military precision.

Pedro de Treend, who fought for armed forces of four countries including New Zealand, died in Hastings on Sunday, a month short of his 96th birthday.

The former tank driver and paratrooper, who became a teacher after his military career, was an “adrenalin junkie” who made his last tandem skydive at 91 and always set his mobility scooter to full-throttle.

He was well known in Hastings as a snappy dresser who kept to a precise schedule on the daily rounds he made to hand out biscuits to city workers.

The Spaniard’s military career began at 17 when he joined the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) to fight in the Spanish Civil War between 1937 and 1938. He was captured but, after an escape that included a stowaway journey to Australia, he returned to Europe to enlist with the British army for World War II, serving in a tank regiment and the airborne division.

After convalescing from injuries received in a North Africa tank attack, he was denied the opportunity to re-enlist, so he joined the French Foreign Legion before later ending up back with a British airborne unit.

He was captured and imprisoned by the Germans, then liberated by the Americans before moving to New Zealand and serving with J Force after the war in occupied Japan.

The former tank driver and paratrooper, who became a teacher after his military career, was an “adrenalin junkie”.

“He went in search of campaigns – from one to another,” his son Ricardo de Treend said yesterday.

“If he was discharged as unfit for service because of a wound, he would go and join another army. Not many people get to be paratroopers as well as tank drivers.”

That tenacity continued into retirement. De Treend was hospitalised in July but discharged himself, only to be back a day later because of his poor health.

“He overdid things – he had people to see and biscuits to deliver,” his son said.

Thomson’s Suits, one of the stops on his biscuit delivery route, was also a favourite shop for de Treend, who was always immaculately dressed.

Store manager Angus Thomson said he was a proud man with a passion for coloured blazers. The pride he took in his clothes meant blazers bought in the 1970s still looked smart when he wore them this year.

Retailers could set their clocks by his morning visits, Thomson said. “If he wasn’t there by 10 to 9, we’d be out looking for him.”

THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR (1936-39)

Sparked by a coup against the legitimate government of the republic, and staged by a significant portion of the army, it prompted a popular uprising that drew a wave of global solidarity.

Tens of thousands of foreigners, including New Zealanders, flocked to fight in the war.

A 2009 book, Kiwi Companeros, tells the stories of Kiwis who participated, including Pedro de Treend, a teenage Spaniard who later settled in New Zealand.

De Treend, who died on Sunday, was the last surviving New Zealand combat veteran of the war.

Photo captions –

Pedro de Treend making one of his final tandem skydives when he was in his 80’s.

Below: Hastings war veteran Pedro de Treend pictured in Holland in 1944 when he was serving in the armoured corps of the French Foreign Legion.