These poignant images of the last resting place of Lance Sergeant Percy Lynden Titchener are from the Archive’s photograph collection. The Lance Sergeant (serial no.15691) was killed in action at El Alamein on October 24, 1942.
The photographs were found loose in a book donated to the John Kinder Theological Library by Herbert R. Minn, formerly of the Classics Department at the University of Auckland. His book, ‘The burden of this unintelligible world or the mystery of suffering; being a rhythmical version of the Book of Job’ was published in 1942. It is dedicated to P.L.T and D.G.S Middle East forces, with an In Memoriam to Percy Lyndon Titchener.
The book is part of the Baumber Collection at the Library and is in itself something of a rarity, being described as an ‘interim emergency edition’ limited to 100 copies. This volume is number four of only twenty-five signed copies.
We are keen to know if anyone has any clues about the link between Prof. Minn’s book and Lance Sergeant Percy Lynden Titchener.
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For more images like the two above, please visit Pūmotomoto, our online archives.
Kia ora from the Presbyterian Research Centre. Percy Lynden Titchener was a student at the Presbyterian Theological Hall at Knox College before enlisting (apparently after much soul searching) in 1940. He had been heavily involved in Bible Class and in the Student Christian Movement. You can find more information about him here; https://pcanzarchives.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/112530?keywords=Titchener&type=all&highlights=WyJ0aXRjaGVuZXIsIiwidGl0Y2hlbmVyIl0=&lsk=fc4bd66b609294f7645523e0a3b159b3 .