Defence Service Medal awarded to Thame councillor

A New Zealand-born Thame Town Councillor has been awarded the New Zealand Defence Service Medal in honour of his service in Her Majesty’s Forces since 1996.

Born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, Vaughan Humphries was a cadet from a young age and went on to enlist as a Bandsman in the Seventh Wellington Hawke’s Bay Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment where he trained as an infantry soldier. In 1999 he transferred to the New Zealand Intelligence Corps and retrained as an intelligence soldier working at Land Command, Trentham Camp. Despite requesting an attachment to a British unit when Vaughan moved to the UK, he was unable to continue his military career and received an honourable discharge in 2002.

The New Zealand Defence Service Medal was instituted in April 2011 to recognise proven military service since September 1945. Such a medal would normally have been presented by the New Zealand equivalent of the British Legion, however, due to Vaughan’s current residence in the UK, this opportunity was not available to him. Instead, the Town Mayor, Cllr Peter Lambert, had the honour of presenting Vaughan with his esteemed award at a Full Council meeting on Tuesday, December 17.