Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Henry John Myer was the son of Henry Herman Myer and Catherine Theresa Myer (nee McCabe) of 139 Springfield Road, Christchurch, New Zealand. He was the loved brother of William, Catherine, Mary, Agnes, Josephina, Bernard, and Christina. Henry (junior) attended the Sacred Heart School in Timaru from 1903, before graduating to the neighbouring Marist Brothers School. Henry enlisted on 18 October 1915 at Trentham and departed for service with the 3rd Reinforcements of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. On 10 March 1916, soon after arrival in Egypt, he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion Canterbruy Infantry Regiment, which was soon transported to France to serve on the Western Front. On 31 August 1917 Henry was promoted to Lance Corporal, but was killed in action six weeks later at Passchendaele. The Timaru Herald of 30 January 1918 reported that Mr HH Meyer of Sefton St, Timaru had received the following letter from Company Sergt-Major V. Loomes informing him of the circumstances of the death of his son: "I feel it my duty to write to you telling you how your son Harry met his death. He and I were mates in the Lewis Gun Section for a long time, and before going into the last attack we exchanged addresses and promised each other that should either of us fail to get through we should write home to each other's people. I must offer you my most sincere sympathy in having lost such a boy as Harry. He was a man right through, and had played the game at everything. He led his section of Lewis gunners into thre attack and it was unfortunate that we were put to take a very stiff position, which was dotted with 'pill boxes'. These were well manned by machine guns and snipers, and to make matters worse the wire around them was uncut. We had a very poor chance of taking it, but no one said no, or faltered. A sniper was responsible for Harry's death. He was shot in the head and killed instantly ... He had no pain. He was buried where he fell. He was a game boy and is mourned by all his mates."

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database (August 2013); Commonwealth War Graves Commission at http://www.cwgc.org/; Family records contributed via SCRoll submission from L Sangster, 6 April & 11 August 2016; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records [June 2021]; NZ BMDs 1897/14795; Timaru Herald 30 January 1918, courtesy of Papers Past at https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Maree Bowen, SC branch NZSG; Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.