James Russell "Rusty" Page (10 May 1908 – 22 May 1985) was a New Zealand army officer, and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and administrator.

Early life and family

Born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in 1908, Page was the son of John and Helen Stuart Page (née Caradus). From 1922 to 1926 he was educated at

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881 and ...

, where he was junior athletics, shooting and tennis champion in 1922. In 1926 he was captain of the school's 1st XV rugby team, head prefect and senior athletics champion. The recipient of a New Zealand military scholarship, Page undertook army officer training at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

from 1927 to 1928. His engagement to Betty Penston Blundell was announced in May 1936, and the couple married at West Wickham in south-west London in July that year. James_Russell_Page_passport_application

Rugby union

Primarily a first five-eighth, Page played for London Scottish while at Sandhurst. He was a reserve for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in one match, but did not take the field. Returning to New Zealand in 1930, Page represented

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

, from 1931 to 1935. He played 18 matches for the All Blacks—three of which were as captain—including six internationals. He later served on the executives of the Wellington Rugby Football Union (WRFU) from 1947 to 1949 and the New Zealand Rugby Union from 1953 to 1954. He was also president of the WRFU in 1967.

Military career

Page was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the New Zealand Staff Corps in August 1928. He served as adjutant at Fort Dorset on the

Miramar Peninsula The large Miramar Peninsula ( mi, Te Motu Kairangi) is on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand, at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in Wellington's eastern suburbs. According to Māori legend, it was formed when the ...

in 1935, and with the

Royal New Zealand Artillery The Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery is the artillery regiment of the New Zealand Army. It is effectively a military administrative corps, and can comprise multiple component regiments. This nomenclature stems from its heritage as an off ...

, and, as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was appointed commanding officer of 26 (NZ) Battalion when it was formed in May 1940. He saw active service with the Battalion in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. He was wounded on 27 November 1941 at Sidi Rezegh during

Operation Crusader Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) ...

and was invalided back to New Zealand. In recognition of his gallant and distinguished service in the Middle East, and in particular in November 1941 at Sidi Rezegh where he was wounded, Page was appointed a

Companion of the Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typic ...

in March 1942. His investiture by the Governor-General, Lord Newall, took place at a ceremony at

Wellington Town Hall The Wellington Town Hall ( mi, Te Whare Whakarauika) is a concert hall and part of the municipal complex in Wellington, New Zealand, which opened in December 1904. It has been closed to the public since the 2013 Seddon earthquake, and it is curr ...

on 2 August 1944. Part of his citation read: For the remainder of the war, Page held various posts in New Zealand, including inspector of training from August 1942. From January 1943 he was stationed at Army Headquarters in Wellington. He was later commandant of the New Zealand Northern Military District from 1950 to 1952, when he was appointed adjutant-general at Army Headquarters. In 1953, Page was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded a ...

, and he was appointed a Commander of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire in the

1954 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1954 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1954 to celebrat ...

. Page was appointed quartermaster-general in 1956 and New Zealand joint services liaison in Canberra in 1960. He retired from the army with the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

in 1963. He died in Auckland in 1985 at the age of 77.

References

External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, James 1908 births 1985 deaths New Zealand military personnel Rugby union players from Dunedin People educated at Southland Boys' High School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Wellington rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres London Scottish F.C. players New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand brigadiers New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand Companions of the Distinguished Service Order New Zealand Rugby Football Union officials