Profile

McRAE, Donald Grant
(Service number 73510)

Donald McRae — (Courtesy of J Love, South Canterbury Museum L2014/010.01)

Military funeral for D G McRae — Held in Waimate, 1922. McRae was reported to have died as a result of being gassed during World War One. (Courtesy of J Love, South Canterbury Museum L2014/010.02)

The McRae family, Brunswick-Downs — Posed in front of their home at Brunswick Downs (Waimate District) are Donald Grant's family (from left to right): George Gordon, ?, Isabella Jessie, Ann (Tottie), John (senior), ?, Fairlie Edward Stanley, and Annie (nee Grant). Donald worked on the home farm as a shepherd. (Courtesy of J Love, South Canterbury Museum L2014/010.03)

War Graves notification card — Front and rear covers. (Courtesy of J Love, South Canterbury Museum L2014/010.04)

Aliases
First Rank	Private	Last Rank	Rifleman

Birth

Date	07/12/1893	Place of Birth	Otago, NZ

Enlistment Information

Date	5 July 1917	Age	23 years
Address at Enlistment	Waihao Downs, Waimate, NZ
Occupation	Shepherd
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	J McRae (father), Waihao Downs, via Waimate, NZ.
Religion	Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in	Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	NZEF
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	40th Reinforcements, E Company.
Date	7 October 1918
Transport	Tahiti
Embarked From	Wellington, NZ	Destination	Plymouth, England.

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With	NZ Rifle Brigade.

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		Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date	25 May 1922	Age	28 years.
Place of Death	Waimate, NZ.
Cause	Died after discharge from the NZEF from wounds inflicted or disease contracted while on active service.
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Old Waimate Cemetery, Waimate, NZ.
Memorial Reference	Presbyterian Section, Plot 631.
New Zealand Memorials	On Memorial wall, Timaru, Memorial archway & Gate at Waimate Gardens.

Biographical Notes

Born 12 July 1893 to parents John McRae and Annie McIntosh, nee Grant, Tokarakhi, Otago, NZ.

John and Annie were both born in Inverness, Scotland.

John, b about 1862, d 12 June 1928. Annie McIntosh Grant b 1860, d 1932, is the daughter of Donald Grant (1833-1919) and Isabella Ewing (1849-1926), Grand daughter of Peter Grant (1797-1869) and Anne Hannie McIntosh (1812-1897).

John and Annie are on NZ Electoral Rolls 1896, 1900, 1905-06, 1911, 1914, 1919, 1928. In Waitaki District, Otago.

Both John and Annie are buried in the Old Waimate Cemetery, Waimate, S Canterbury.

Donald Grant McRae a Presbyterian.

Donald worked at home as a Shepherd, working for his father at Waihao Downs, via Waimate, South Canterbury.

He enlisted 7 May 1917. Serial no 73510. At enlistment he was described as being 5ft 4 ½ inches tall, fresh complexion, blue eyes and dark brown hair. Age was 23 years. He left NZ 10 July 1918.

Initially a Private and serving in NZEF, 40th Reinforcements, E Company.

Donald’s rank when he was discharged (Sept. 1919) was Rifleman. He was serving with NZ Rifle Brigade at this time in France.

A medical examination noted he had had a perforation of the right ear drum for 18 months, and gunshot wounds right side of head and chest.

From July 1921, Donald received treatment for ‘Spinal Caries’ at Waimate Hospital. From his return home he did not work again due to injury received overseas.

Relatives commented that it was the result of being gassed.

Death occurred in Waimate, South Canterbury, on 25 May 1922.

He was given a Military Funeral in Waimate.

He is buried in the Waimate Old Cemetery, Plot 000631, in the Presbyterian section.

Donald Grant McRae appears on the NZ Army Reserve Roll, 1st Division, S Canterbury 1916, NZ Army Nominal Rolls 1914-1918 WW1 (occupation Shepherd), and NZ Army WW1 Roll of Honour 1914-1919.

Donald Grant McRae is remembered on the Cenotaph, Queen street, Timaru, and in Waimate on the Memorial Gates to the Gardens.

Sources

CenotaphSources: • Auckland War Museum – Cenotaph. • Archives NZ – Defence Force Personnel Record. • NZ BDMs. • Waimate District Council – Cemetery Database. • Ancestry – Public Member Tree of ‘Ferguson/McClung and related Families’. Grant family history. Many photos from this file. • Ancestry – NZ Electoral Rolls and NZ Army WW1 Reserve Rolls, NZ Army WW1 Nominal Rolls, and NZ Army WW1 Roll of Honour. • Photos from niece Jennifer Love, nee McRae.

External Links

Researched and Written by

Lesley Tennent (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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