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Story: Kiwis overseas

Herbert Charles Thomas with snake

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Herbert Charles Thomas with snake

Herbert Charles Thomas went to Africa after the Second World War, where he worked as an electrician in South African and Rhodesian gold mines. He is pictured here in the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) after running over a snake in February 1948. Herbert later moved to England, married, and raised a family there. He returned home to New Zealand only once, just before he died.

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Anne Turvey

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Kiwis overseas – Staying in Britain, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/878/herbert-charles-thomas-with-snake (accessed 3 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 4 March 2009, updated 17 September 2014.