Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Herbert George Budd was the son of Elizabeth Corthwaite Budd and Alfred Budd. His parents immigrated to New Zealand from the United Kingdom with their three children Katie, Bessie, and Frederick, on the ‘Oamaru’, which departed from London on 12 October 1883 and arrived in Lyttleton on 12 January 1884. They would later have six more children, William Henry, Edward, Margaret Lilian, Alfred Ernest, Herbert George, and Nellie.

Alfred Budd senior was a pastrycook and confectioner. He ran tearooms at the south end of Stafford Street, the Arcade Cafe, and Budd’s Tea Kiosk at Caroline Bay, as well as providing catering services. However, in July 1915, Mrs Budd advertised the sale of their Craigie Avenue home in the Timaru Herald and the couple relocated to Auckland.

Herbert George Budd was born on 25 January 1895. He attended Timaru South School as a child and later studied plumbing at Timaru Technical School (which went on to become Aoraki Polytechnic and Mountainview High School) from 1910 to 1914. Prior to enlistment, he was employed by Timaru Member of Parliament and Mayor (1902-1913), James Craigie.

At the time of his enlistment on 6 January 1915, at just 19 years of age, Budd was described to be of fair complexion, with grey eyes and brown hair. He was 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 156 pounds. He was a Congregationalist, possibly attending the Congregational Church on North Street in Timaru. He was also known to be a prominent swimmer. Budd was single when he enlisted and living with his parents at 10 Craigie Avenue, in Timaru.

Upon enlisting with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Budd was serving in the Territorial Unit, 2nd (South Canterbury) Regiment, A Company. Although it would appear that at some point he was rejected as unfit for the Crown’s military forces due to muscular rheumatism, Budd underwent medical examination on 4 January 1915, most likely at the Territorial Headquarters at Timaru, subsequently joining the New Zealand Service on 6 January 1915 as a Private in the Canterbury Infantry Battalion 4th Reinforcements. It appears Budd was sent directly to Trentham Military Camp, near Upper Hutt, as his medical history sheet states that he enlisted at Trentham on 7 January 1915. He was promoted to Lance Corporal on 15 February 1915. However, there is conflicting information as to his last known rank, with some documents stating Private and others stating Lance Corporal.

There is little documented information of Budd’s own specific movements from this point, but thanks to several publications, most notably An ANZAC in the Family: Private McAlpine of the 4th Reinforcements by Sherryl Abrahart and Gone to Gallipoli: Anzacs of small town New Zealand go to war by Christopher Tobin, we are able to gain a little insight into the journey that began when Budd left Timaru and the challenges he faced in his final few days.

According to Abrahart, Private Leslie McAlpine arrived at Trentham around 11 or 12 January 1915 - just a few days after Budd (Abrahart 2018: 35). Although McAlpine was with the Aucklands and Budd with the Canterburys, the routine for the 2235 men of the 4th Reinforcements during their thirteen weeks of training would have been very similar. Abrahart documents that the men first learned basic drill and musketry, including marching, rifle shooting and handling, map reading, and attack methods, as well as participating in rigorous physical training. They then moved on to bayonet fighting, special target training, and platoon training, the latter of which included attacking, defending, outposts, and advanced guards (Abrahart 2018: 38-39, 41).

As Abrahart comments, in March 1915, the Allies formed a strategy to eliminate the Turks from the war - aiming to attack the Dardanelles Strait and capture Constantinople (now Istanbul). They were first to attack by sea, but when that failed, they decided to attack via the Gallipoli Peninsula (Abrahart 2018: 43). Although they did not form part of the initial 25 April landings, the men of the 4th Reinforcements played a key role in the campaign and endured great hardship and casualties during its execution.

The order for the 4ths to move out was given for Saturday 17 April 1915 - the date that Budd’s military records show he was transferred to the Foreign Service. Abrahart recounts that the men rose at 4am and at 11.30am they began their march to Wellington. Three different bands played popular tunes and marching songs, and the route was lined with ladies waving and clapping. The men came to a halt in front of Government House, where the sun was shining and they were surrounded by crowds of people. A quote from the Dominion, which Abrahart includes in her account of the event, emphasises the grandeur and the professionalism of the 4th Reinforcement soldiers: ‘no such well-trained and efficient-looking troops as these (…) have ever been prepared in the Dominion (…). Their marching was a rare treat, and every Briton doubtless noted with the greatest pride their fine physique and good bearing’ (Abrahart 2018: 46-47).

As Abrahart notes, the Prime Minister William Massey, Minister of Defence James Allen, and the Mayor of Wellington John Luke were all in attendance and Massey and Luke both gave speeches. A service was held, with a reading of a Psalm, a prayer, and a benediction. The men then marched to the harbour, where three troopships, the Willochra, the Knight Templar, and the Waitomo awaited their arrival. Although it is unknown which ship Budd travelled on, the three ships sailed on the same route, in convoy. It took several hours for all the men to board, and they did so before an enormous crowd and to the tune of many popular songs played by the bands (Abrahart 2018: 46-48).

Abrahart indicates that the journey to Egypt took approximately three weeks. The ships travelled via Tasmania and Albany (Western Australia), where they arrived on 29 April. The soldiers conducted a three-hour march through the town to crowds of cheering people. Here, they also had an afternoon of leave. They continued via Colombo (Sri Lanka) and arrived in Aden (Yemen) on 20 May. They then sailed through the Red Sea and up through the Suez Canal, arriving in Port Suez on 22 May. From there, they boarded a train to Cairo, arriving in the late afternoon, and then continued to Zeitoun, six miles north of the city, in the desert. The New Zealand training base was set up there and the soldiers completed the final part of their journey on foot, marching to the encampment (Abrahart 2018: 52-64).

The 4ths remained at this camp for a mere few weeks. Abrahart remarks that during their time there they underwent intensive training but also had regular leave in which they could relax at the camp or visit Cairo. She states that ‘everyone goes to see the pyramids at Gaza’ and we can assume that Budd also went on this exciting excursion (Abrahart 2018: 61, 63-64).

As Abrahart mentions, in early June 1915, the 4th Reinforcements are sent to Gallipoli. They take a train to Alexandria and from there they sail through the Aegean sea, stopping at Mudros Bay on the island of Lemnos before anchoring close to Anzac Cove and taking picket boats to shore (Abrahart 2018: 65-66).

Abrahart recounts that when they were not in the trenches themselves, the men were held in reserve and working hard digging trenches, building and improving the posts and dugouts, making bombs out of jam or tobacco tins and making periscope rifles. Conditions were tough: it was very hot, there were flies everywhere and food and water was scarce. The men got little sleep and a vast majority of them were afflicted with varying degrees of dysentery and other stomach illnesses (Abrahart 2018: 71-82).

The following paragraphs focus on the movements of the South Canterbury Company in June and July 1915 and the 6-7 August attack during which Herbert George Budd was killed in action at some point on 7 August. All the information is taken from Gone to Gallipoli: Anzacs of small town New Zealand go to war by Christopher Tobin.

Tobin indicates that in late May a plan had been made to attack and take the Chunuk Bair heights, thus extending the area held by the Anzacs beyond their cramped beach head. In preparation for this attack, to be carried out in early August, the infantry focused on Quinn’s Post, a dangerous yet critical position that was closer to the Turkish line than any other. The men of the 4th Reinforcements joined the South Canterburys on 10 June, whilst they were in reserve at Canterbury Gully, having already completed two stints at Quinn’s. The South Canterburys spent the rest of June and part of July alternating between Quinn’s and Canterbury Gully, with the exception of a break on the island of Imbros 15-19 July (Tobin 2001: 78, 80, 82).

Tobin goes on to recount that by 5 August there were 40,000 troops at Anzac Cove and they began to attack the Turkish positions that evening. The plan of attack was ‘complicated, fraught with risk and an even bigger operation than the April landings’ - the terrain was tough and the size of the Anzac forces was nowhere near full strength. However, the attack went ahead and between 10.30pm 6 August and 1am on the 7th, the Canterbury Infantry Battallion trekked the 1500 meters between Happy Valley and Sazli Beit Dere, arriving well behind schedule. The attack on Chunuk Bair was supposed to be carried out by the Canterbury and Wellington battalions in the pre-dawn darkness just after 4am but problems such as lack of knowledge of the densely wooded area set them back further. The men realised they were lost and dispersed. The two companies (12th and 13th) that were at the rear had gone back to the beach whilst the rest (including most of the South Canterbury Company) moved inland towards Rhododendron Spur, meeting up with the Otago battalion at 5.45am. The 12th and 13th Companies rejoined them at 6.30am. The Wellingtons and the Aucklands had arrived hours earlier. At 9.30am they received an order to attack the Chunuk Bair crest. The South Canterburys, along with the 12th and 13th, moved forward, sustaining casualties as they went. By this stage, the attack was deemed impossible and called off and the approximately 700 men of the three Canterbury Companies stopped and waited in a small depression. This position turned out to be very unsafe as they were seen by a battery of Turksih mountain gunners. Half of the men gathered there were killed or wounded within minutes in what Tobin describes as ‘the worst disaster the Canterbury Battalion encountered at Gallipoli’, with many of them not even having had a chance to fire any shots themselves. Of the approximately 200 soldiers of the 2nd South Canterbury Battalion involved in the attack (the Battalion Budd belonged to), a mere 49 survived the 7 August slaughter. At 1.30pm, another attack was ordered but was called off until nightfall. The remaining 50 men of the Canterbury Battalion returned to Rhododendron Spur, still under continuous fire, and there they dug in. Other Companies, such as the Wellingtons, Auckland Mounteds and the Maori Contingent continued the attack on 8 August (Tobin 2001: 86-87, 90, 97, 99-105).

We will never be able to know at exactly what point during that disastrous attack on 7 August 1915 Herbert George Budd was killed. But with this insight into the circumstances of the attack, we know that Budd, a twenty-year-old volunteer soldier, died bravely and for a cause he believed in. According to the Auckland Star (28 August 1915), his mother received notice that he had been killed in action on 27 August and also received sympathies for her loss from the King, the Governor, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence. His death was also reported in the 28 August issue of the Timaru Herald and in numerous other publications. Budd was awarded three service medals: the British War medal (28/09/1921), the Victory Medal (08/08/1922), and the 1914-15 Star. His parents received his Memorial Scroll in June 1921.

Budd is commemorated on panel twelve at the Chunuk Bair (New Zealand) Memorial at the Chunuk Bair Cemetery in Gallipoli, Turkey and in the Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War I Hall of Memories. In Timaru, he is commemorated on the Memorial Wall at the Timaru Cenotaph on Queen Street, unveiled on 25 April 1926 and on the Timaru South School World War I Memorial Plaque. His name is included in the Great War Roll of Honour - Auckland Province. Entries for Budd can also be found online on the NZ War Graves Project, the Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Royal British Legion’s site ‘Every One Remembered’, and A Street Near You.

‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.’

(For the Fallen, Laurence Binyon)

Sources

Timaru Technical School roll books (SCRoll web submission from J James, Mountainview High School, 23 March 2015); Herbert George Budd Military Personnel File at https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE13289883; History of Mountainview High School / Aoraki Polytechnic at https://www.mountainview.school.nz/About/History/; Chunuk Bair Memorial at https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/76000/chunuk-bair-new-zealand-memorial/; Roll of Honour - Auckland Province at https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/collections-research/collections/record/am_library-manuscriptsandarchives-11061; NZ War Graves at https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/node/3388/; Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph Record for Herbert George Budd at https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C1896; Commonwealth War Graves Commission at https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/679794/herbert-george-budd/; Royal British Legion - Every One Remembered at https://www.everyoneremembered.org/profiles/soldier/679794/; A Street Near You at https://astreetnearyou.org/person/679794/-; Books: "An ANZAC in the Family: Private McAlpine of the 4th Reinforcements" (Sherryl Abrahart, 2018) and "Gone to Gallipoli: Anzacs of small town New Zealand go to war" (Christopher Tobin, 2001); Timaru Civic Trust Blog at https://www.timarucivictrust.co.nz/blog/my-favourite-building-arcade-cafe; assorted article from Papers past, including: Herbert George Budd Death Notices from Papers Past: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19150828.2.29.3 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19150828.2.30 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19150828.2.39 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ME19150828.2.37 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19150828.2.82 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDT19150828.2.3.1 Family history related stories from Papers Past: - https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18831204.2.18 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS18840114.2.3.1 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD18920901.2.2.5 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19061008.2.37 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19101020.2.2.4 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19101114.2.2.5 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19130306.2.2.5 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19150731.2.44.1

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• Mountainview High School Roll of Honour (pdf, 809.5 KB updated 13-May-2016)

Researched and Written by

Sarah Mahalli

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.