MENZIES, William Rutledge
(Service number 46654)
| First Rank | Corporal | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 26/12/1896 | Place of Birth | Oamaru, North Otago, NZ |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | 20 years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Timaru Road, Waimate, South Canterbury, NZ. | ||
| Occupation | School Teacher | ||
| Previous Military Experience | 8th Company, Senior Cadets Seconded 2nd South Canterbury Regiment | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | William Menzies (father), Timaru Road, Waimate, NZ | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 29th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company. | ||
| Date | 15 August 1917 | ||
| Transport | Ruahine | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington, NZ | Destination | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Canterbury Infantry Regiment. | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 |
Death
| Date | 5 April 1918 | Age | 21 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Somme, France | ||
| Cause | Killed in action | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Martinsart British Cemetery, Somme, France | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | On Memorial wall, Timaru; Waimate First World War Memorial | ||
Biographical Notes
William Menzies was the son of William and Catherine Menzies. William (jnr) was initially schooled in Waimate where his father managed the drapery at the local CFCA.At the outbreak of war William was still attending Timaru Boys High School as a boarder, and afterwards acted as a temporary master until he reached military age. Willaim embarked for the front on 15 August 1917 with the 29th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company. William fought at the Somme offensive of 21 March until 5 April when he was killed. The Timaruvian reported that ‘Pie’ had only been serving with a Lewis gun section for a few months when he was killed in action in France. A letter from a fellow soldier printed in the Oamaru Mail on 30 May 1918 reported had been twice slightly wounded but, refusing to leave his post, was soon after was struck in the head by a sniper’s bullet.
William is buried in the Martinsart British Cemetery, Somme.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database; NZ Defence Force – Personnel Record; Commonwealth War Graves Commission website; Timaruvian 1917-1919; Oamaru Mail on 30 May 1918 & 19 April 1918
External Links
Related Documents
- Timaru Herald 19 Nov 2016 - Great War story - William MENZIES (pdf, 346.9 KB updated 23-Dec-2016)
- Photograph Album - William R Menzies - (South Canterbury Museum L2013/016.01) (pdf, 3.3 MB updated 27-Feb-2019)
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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