Homing in on 100

When Howard Monk arrived in New Guinea in 1945, Royal NZ Air Force fighter pilots facing the Japanese in the Pacific were credited with shooting down 99 enemy aircraft.

The Whangārei-born 22-year-old, who had earned his pilot’s wings the previous year, had hoped to do his bit to help bring that number to 100. But the war was winding down, and he reached the islands too late to confront any enemy planes in the air. Although that remains a disappointment to him almost eight decades later, Howard now has his sights set on a “ton” of his own: his 100th birthday in November.

They are planning a big party for him at Maygrove Village in Ōrewa, where he lives in an apartment looking straight down the entrance drive.

“A hundred years old, hey?” Howard chuckles. “I think I’ll make it, alright. Fortunately I’ve got my good health. It’ll be a big day.”

Howard left school in Hamilton the day he turned 14, hoping to become a mechanic but instead landing in the spare parts division. After signing up to the army he ended up in the transport department, a “cushy” post largely involving handing out permits.

He later transferred to the RNZAF, and studied, trained and flew at several bases around the country, including Taieri near Dunedin, Woodbourne in Blenheim and Auckland’s Ardmore, eventually earning his wings in December 1944.

When he deployed out, he was based in New Guinea and the Solomons, but World War II was drawing to a close, and there were no Japanese warplanes left flying in the area.

The Kiwi pilots patrolled the region in F-4U Corsair fighters, sometimes bombing or strafing the bush on islands where enemy forces were suspected to be lying low, but with no indication of any hits. (According to war historians, RNZAF pilots flew 10,592 sorties against Japanese positions on Bougainville and Buka islands in the Solomons between January and August 1945, dropping 4256 tons of bombs.)

It wasn’t all plain sailing. Howard recalls returning from one such mission when two of the planes and their pilots were lost at sea.

“I was separate from them so I managed to keep a decent height. And I thought, now I must be just about over the base, and there was a sudden flash of lightning and there was the base beneath me. So I shut the old throttle and landed,” he says. “You’ve got to be lucky.”

After the war Howard married his sweetheart Margaret, in 1946, and worked as an aerial top dresser, racking up thousands of flying hours sowing superphosphate fertiliser and grass seed. He later became president of the Air Force Association’s Hibiscus Coast branch, serving in the post until the age of 88. In 2013 he was awarded life membership, “in recognition of long service, dedication and work on behalf of the branch beyond that normally provided by a member”.

After Margaret died in 1999, Howard stayed on in their Ōrewa home until moving into Maygrove in 2019. From his perch overlooking the drive, he watches the world go by. He gets the newspaper every day, and enjoys doing the word search, which he says keeps his mind active. On a nearby table is a small pile of well-thumbed black and white photos featuring Margaret, and himself as a young man. Also present are RNZAF badges and his three medals. He loves the community he lives in. A pianist plays regularly in a nearby lounge, and he locates himself so he can see the music, then yells out to the others what piece the pianist is about to play. Asked what advice he has for others approaching his age, he says, “Nothing special. I just happened to be lucky, I think.”

He may be approaching his century, but

Howard is by no means housebound. Twice a week, a friend drives him to the Hibiscus Coast Senior Citizens Association’s indoor bowls club.

“I don’t actually play, but I take the money, issue the tickets, and watch. I thoroughly enjoy every minute of it. I criticize the play a wee bit,” he laughs. “Ah, happy days. Happy days.”

An artist’s impression of the social hub under construction at The Botanic. Inset, The building has attracted attention at night.