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MCKEE, Cornelius Patrick
(Service number 52638)

A formal portrait of the McKee brothers of Waimate, probably taken prior to their departure for service in 1917. — The brothers are likely to be Bernard, Gregory and Francis (in uniform), plus Cornelius (not in uniform) who failed his medical due to hernia. Their other, older brother, Owen, was also balloted for service in June1917, but refused to take his medical as he believed in unlawful, and was imprisoned as a result. Given that history it is unlikely he is one of those pictured.
Three of the brothers are pictured in uniform, bearing cap badges of the 8th (South Canterbury) Mounted Rifles. Two wear matching collar tabs, while the brother standing in the centre wears Mounted Rifle Reinforcement collar tabs, used by the 25th to 47th Reinforcements. The brother sitting on the left is probably Bernard (Barney) also has a number collar tab - possibly reading 36, which he is shown wearing in another portrait.
The rear of the print bears a barely readable name "Ethel Elderton", whom Cornelius married in 1927.
(South Canterbury Museum 2019/179.107)

Aliases
First Rank		Last Rank

Birth

Date	16 July 1888	Place of Birth	Waimate

Enlistment Information

Date	29 January 1917	Age	28
Address at Enlistment	Waihaorunga
Occupation	Farmer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Owen McKee (father) Waihaorunga
Religion	Roman Catholic
Medical Information	Left inguinal hernia, Hammertoe

Military Service

Served with	New Zealand Armed Forces (?)	Served in
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation
Unit, Squadron, or Ship
Date
Transport
Embarked From		Destination

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date	7 August 1919	Reason	Medical discharge - unfit for service

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date	3 December 1968	Age	79
Place of Death	Waimate
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Waimate Cemetery
Memorial Reference	Plot 965, Blk 22
New Zealand Memorials	St Patrick's (Waimate) Memorial list (June 2015)

Biographical Notes

One of nine children of Owen Francis and Margaret McKee, including brothers Joseph Francis, Cornelius Patrick, Bernard, and Owen James Francis McKeewho were also called to serve.

Cornelius was discharged from the army due to a hernia, having only got as far as having a medical examination, before returning to his farm. After the war Cornelius married Ethel May Elderton in 1927. One son, Cornelius, died 1929 age two days and is also buried in Waimate Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph database (May 2015); Archives New Zealand; New Zealand BDM Historical Records online; Billion Graves at http://billiongraves.com/; Paperspast; ancestry.co.au

External Links

Researched and Written by

Liz Shea, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.

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