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McKEE, Joseph Francis
(Service number 48991)

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	Joseph Benedict Francs
First Rank	Trooper	Last Rank	Sergeant

Birth

Date	5 July 1896	Place of Birth	Waimate

Enlistment Information

Date	5 January 1917	Age	20
Address at Enlistment	Waihaorunga, Waimate
Occupation	Farm labourer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Owen McKee (father), Waihaorunga, Waihao Downs, New Zealand
Religion	Roman Catholic
Medical Information

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	28th Reinforcements, Mounted Rifles
Date	7 June 1917
Transport	Westralia
Embarked From	Wellington, New Zealand	Destination

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns	Didn't serve in any campaigns due to illness
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	18 May 1919	Reason	No longer physically fit

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Rejected as unfit due to eyesight. Returned to New Zealand with debility on 15 January 1919.

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date	26 July 1977	Age	81
Place of Death	Christchurch
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Waimari Cemetery
Memorial Reference	Lawn Plot 644
New Zealand Memorials	St Patrick's (Waimate) Memorial list (June 2015)

Biographical Notes

Joseph was the son of Owen Francis and Margaret McKee. He was one of nine children. Several brothers, namely Bernard, Gregory, Cornelius Patrick, and Owen James Francis McKee also called to serve in the war.

After the war Joseph married Muriel Wardrop Russell 1927

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph database (May 2015); Archives New Zealand; New Zealand BDM Historical Records online Christchurch City Cemetery records

External Links

Researched and Written by

Tony Rippin (South Canterbury Museum); 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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