Profile

MENZIES, William Rutledge
(Service number 46654)

Aliases Pie, Willie
First Rank Corporal Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 26 December 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
Religion Presbyterian
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 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
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 5 April 1918 Age 21 years
Place of Death Somme, France
Cause Killed in action
Notices Oamaru Mail 19 april 1918, Otago daily Times 20 April 1918.
Memorial or Cemetery Martinsart British Cemetery, Somme, France
Memorial Reference I.H.37
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

Researched and Written by

Lesley Tennent, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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