Profile

BLAIR, George Turnell McNeil
(Service number 28849)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 3 May 1888 Place of Birth Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date 29 June 1916 Age 28 years
Address at Enlistment C/o F. H. Smith, "Waratah", Albury
Occupation Shepherd
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Miss M. BLAIR (sister), care of Mount Magdala Home, Christchurch
Religion Roman Catholic
Medical Information Height 5 feet 4¾ inches. Weight 126 lbs. Chest measurement 33-36¾ inches. Complexion dark. Eyes hazel. Hair black. Sight - both eyes 6/6. Hearing good. colour vision normal. Limbs well formed. Full & perefct movement of all joints. Chest well formed. Heart & lungs normal. Had had ilnesses. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. No vaccination mark. Good bdoily & mental health. No slight defects. No fits.

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 18th Reinforcements, J Company
Date 11 October 1916
Transport Tofua
Embarked From Destination Plymouth, Devon, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Regiment

Military Awards

Campaigns Western European
Service Medals British War Medal; Victory Medal
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 25 October 1918 Reason No longer physically fit for War Service on account of wounds received in Action.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Station hand, farm labourer, ploughman

Death

Date 28 June 1958 Age 70 years
Place of Death Hilton, Geraldine (sister's residence)
Cause
Notices Timaru Herald, 30 June 1958
Memorial or Cemetery Timaru Cemetery
Memorial Reference Services Section, Row 109, Plot 6
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

George Turnell McNeil Blair was the first-born of George and Margaret (also known as Mary, née Stewart) Blair. George and his brother Robert Blair embarked together on 11 October 1916 per the Tofua. The father of the family died when the children were young, and thereafter they were cared for by various people. His mother, who was reported in ill health when his brother William died while working in a paddock in April 1911, had died by 1917.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [11 December 2016]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5520 0015419) [06 January 2017]; Timaru Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [11 December 2016]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [11 December 2016]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [27 December 2016]; Probate record (Archives NZ/FamilySearch) [27 December 2016]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [27 December 2016]; Timaru Herald, 21 April 1911, 27 June 1917, 18 February 1919, Oamaru Mail, 18 January 1918, New Zealand Herald, 18 & 26 January 1918, Otago Daily Times, 18 January 1918, Star, 4 May 1918 (Papers Past) [27 December 2016; 06 January 2017]; Timaru Herald, 30 June 1958 (Timaru District Library) [30 December 2016]

External Links

Related Documents

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TS

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