Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

William George Russell was born on 16 February 1896 at Geraldine, the younger son of George and Mary Theresa (aka Sarah Jane, née Brooks) Russell, of 110 Talbot St, Geraldine, Canterbury, New Zealand. He was baptised Roman Catholic on 22 March 1896 at Geraldine. George Russell migrated from Scotland with his widowed father and older sister Agnes in 1874. His oldest brother, John, married in 1874 in New Zealand. Another older brother, William Lilburn Russell, had emigrated in 1872. And another older sister, Margaret, married in Scotland in 1870, later emigrating to New Zealand. George married English-born Sarah Jane Brooks on 27 July 1882 at Ashburton. Two sons and two daughters were born to them, three (including William George) with their mother’s name as Sarah Jane and one (the third) as Mary Teresa. Mrs George Russell was regularly recorded as Mary Theresa on the electoral rolls, died and was buried as Mary Theresa Russell. William and his three older siblings were educated at Geraldine District High School. There, in 1902, he was awarded a Primer II Class Prize; in 1906, a Standard IV Proficiency and Diligence Prize; and in 1907 a Standard V prize. He gained his certificate of proficiency in the 1908 Standard VI examinations. Geraldine School had been destroyed by fire and records lost, but William is entered in the new register started in March 1907. William Russell was possibly a corporal of the newly formed South Geraldine Boy Scouts Patrol in April 1910.

Mrs G. Russell gave 10 shillings to the Geraldine Home and Empire League for Soldiers’ Comforts in September-October 1915. In 1915, William George Russell was a draper’s assistant at Waimate, residing with Mrs Howarth, Parsonage Road, Waimate, was single and Roman Catholic. He stood at 5 feet 11 inches, weighed stone, and had a chest measurement of 33-35½ inches, with a medium complexion, blue eyes and medium brown hair. His sight, hearing and colour vision were all normal, as were his heart and lungs. His limbs and chest were well formed, and his teeth were good. While free from hernia, haemorrhoids and inveterate or contagious skin disease, he did have a left varicocele and a small varix of the left saphens. Overall, he was in good bodily and mental health. “A perfectly healthy young fellow. His only defect a left varicocele which, he declares, causes him no inconvenience, but which I would recommend to be removed. The varix of left saphens is small and unimportant.”

He enlisted on 13 February 1915 at Trentham, just before his 19th birthday, and named his father as next-of-kin – George Russell, Talbot Street, Geraldine. He belonged to the Territorials. At Trentham he was inoculated for typhoid. “The soldiers of the Fourth and Fifth Reinforcements now in their training camp at Trentham gave to the public of Wellington last night some proof of the fact that not a few of them are skilled in the arts of peace as well as the arts of war. The concert which they gave in the Town Hall, under the auspices of the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Patriotic Society, was a noteworthy success. There was no single item on the programme, . . . . . , that was not given by a non-commissioned officer or private of the forces, and there was not a single item that was not good.” [Dominion, 23 March 1915.] Was W. G. Russell among the South Canterbury members of the Fifth Reinforcements who went to Christchurch by train on 15 May, after their final leave, and were able to participate in the public send-off there before returning to Wellington by the evening steamer?

“The fifth reinforcements have now reached the advanced stages of their training, and are being thoroughly tested. The four infantry companies were put through a severe ordeal on Thursday and Friday, when they engaged in continuous operations for 31½ hours, sleeping out at night and making an attack at dawn during heavy rain, and putting in lengthy marches. They came through the ordeal with credit, and displayed a specially fine soldier-like spirit. This morning they were sent out again on a 14 mile route march. The tests for all arms will be continued next week.” [Marlborough Express. 31 May 1915.] “Wellington. June 12. There were memorable street scenes to-day when the fifth reinforcements and No. 2 stationary hospital made their first and only public appearance. The weather which bad been threatening, cleared up for the reception and thousands of people lined the streets. The crowd at times was extremely enthusiastic and cheered the troops again and again. The splendid stature of the men was favourably commented upon all along the line, and a finer body would be difficult to find anywhere. They were handed flowers and fruit as they went along.” [Hawke’s Bay Tribune. 12 June 1915.]

Private W. G. Russell embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion of the Fifth Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Suez, Egypt, on 13 June 1915 by one of the three troopships which berthed at Wellington on 7 June. He took part in the Suvla Bay landing and on 9 August 1915 he joined his battalion at the Dardanelles, remaining until the evacuation. He was admitted to the New Zealand Field Ambulance at Mudros on 1 November with a cold on the chest. He was then admitted to the No. 3 Australian General Hospital at Mudros with influenza. It was 17 November when he was transferred to the Convalescent Depot. Ten days later he was attached to Strength and on 7 December he rejoined his unit at Anzac. Having disembarked at Alexandria on 28 December, he embarked at Port Said per “Franconia” for France on 6 April 1916.

Private William George Russell was killed in action on 26 September 1916 in the Field at the Somme, aged just 20 years. His name is inscribed on the Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial, Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France. On the same page of the same issue of the Timaru Herald was the Casualty List No. 428 which included William George Russell as killed in action and this advice – “Mr and Mrs Rupell, of Geraldine. have received word that their son, Private W. Rupell, had been killed in action.” This is the only occurrence of “Rupell” (perhaps a misreading of handwriting) and would appear to be the reason for two inscriptions on the Geraldine War Memorial – Private W. G. Russell and Private W. Rupell. Both would appear to be for the one man. Similarly, two names are inscribed on the Timaru Memorial Wall – W. Rupell and W. G. Russell. He is remembered, too, on the Waimate War Memorial – W. G. Russell. A death notice for William George Russell was published in the New Zealand Tablet on 2 November 1916. The next week a photograph of a youthful Private W. G. Russell was printed. The memorial notice of 4 October 1917 was very Catholic – “RUSSELL. — your charity pray for the soul of Private William George Russell, younger son of George and Mary Theresa Russell, Geraldine, killed in action in France, September 26, 1916; aged 20 years. – On whose soul, sweet Jesus, have mercy.”

At Waimate he had been secretary to the Waimate branch of the Catholic Federation and to the St Patrick’s Men’s Club, Waimate. His name was recorded in the Waimate Daily Advertiser’s Roll of Honour which was published regularly, initially under the heading Answered the Call and from 30 October1916 under The Supreme Sacrifice. A portrait of William George Russell is found in Volume 5 of “Onward – Portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force” (held by the South Canterbury Branch NZSG). William Russell had served in all theatres of war, for which he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. These were sent to his father, Mr G. Russell, 440 Talbot Street, Geraldine, as were the Scroll and Plaque in 1921. George and Mary Theresa Russell lived on at Geraldine, for many years at Talbot Street, and celebrating their golden wedding anniversary there in 1932. Mr George Russell, for 23 years on the Borough Council staff, died in late December 1935 at Geraldine. At the November 1916 Geraldine Borough Council meeting, the Mayor moved a vote of sympathy with the relatives of those recently lost at the front, specially mentioning the son of Mr Russell, one of the Corporation employees. A mention in the Lyttelton Times of 15 December 1914, of Mr Rupell, in connection with the Geraldine Council, perhaps as overseer, may well refer to Mr George Russell. His widow, Mary Theresa, died in June 1942 at her daughter’s Winchester residence. Both were buried at Geraldine after services at the local Catholic Church. They were survived by their older son, Robert Joseph Russell, and their two daughters, Mary Josephine Smith and Margaret Toomey, whose brothers-in-law had served in the war; their younger son, William George, having been killed in the Great War. Two cousins of William George Russell were listed on the Reserve Rolls.

On Anzac Day 1918, a large gathering in the grounds of the Geraldine District High School witnessed the unveiling of a marble tablet gifted as a memorial to old boys of the school who had fallen in the war. Dr Hislop “gave a capital address urging the children to follow the noble example set by those whose names were on the tablet in patriotism and performance of duty, and he concluded by reciting Kipling’s Child poem.” At the call of the head-master, the children gave the general salute, . . . .” The memorial reads: “Pupils of the school who laid down their lives for the Empire in the Great War 1914—19. ‘Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.’” with some twenty-three names following, W. Russell one of them.

On Anzac Day 1922 an exceptionally large number of people (estimated at 1500) gathered to attend the united service and to witness the unveiling ceremony of the memorial cross erected in grateful memory of the men of the Geraldine district who fell in the war. Following a march down Talbot Street, a very beautiful commenced with the Funeral March. Those gathered then joined the choir in singing the hymn “O God Our Help in Ages Past”. The Mayor, Mr E. Hardcastle, exhorted those gathered: “Let it be your duty then, so far as it lies in your power, to set the example of observing Anzac Day as not only sacred to the memory of the fallen, but one of thankful recognition of the great service they and their comrades did in the Great War to maintain your freedom and Liberty.” Sacred music, hymns, scripture reading, prayers, an address by the vicar, the organist’s playing of the “Dead March in Saul”, the bugler’s sounding of “The Last Post”, and a very touching rendition of the aria “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” all complemented the service. Immediately following the service, the focus moved to the memorial – in the shape of a Celtic Cross and erected in honour of the soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice. Again an immense crowd assembled. The Mayor observed that all through the British Empire and in the Allied Countries there was the same tribute being paid to the memory of the fallen as that in Geraldine. The committee responsible for erecting the memorial decided that the names appearing on the cross should be those of men who gave their lives in the Great War and who had enlisted in the Geraldine and Mount Peel Ridings of the County, or whose next of kin resided in those districts. The men honoured on that day had left a “legacy of freedom, peace and plenty,” said Mr W. F. Evans of Temuka. After the singing of the National Anthem, Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P., said that the British Empire had always stood for liberty and justice, and he then unveiled the cross. A prayer of dedication was offered, a hymn was sung, the Territorials saluted and “The Last Post” was sounded. After an interval of silence, a piper played a lament and wreaths were placed around the memorial. The name of Private W. G. Russell is recorded along with many familiar names, and accompanied by the inscription: “In Grateful Memory of the Men of the Geraldine District who fell in the Great War, 1914-1918. These gave up their own lives that others might live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten.”

The Waimate War Memorial, erected in the form of an arch in Victoria Park as a memorial to those of the town and district who gave their lives for the Empire and civilisation in the war of 1914-18, was unveiled on 25 April 1923. Near the top, in bold brass lettering are the numerals 1914-1918, and above the marble slabs bearing the names are two white marble plates one inscribed: “To our Glorious Dead,” and the other: “Their name Liveth for Evermore.” On each side of the archway there are columns of names in black lettering on white marble. Included in the names inscribed is Russell W. G. Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson (Newman Robert Wilson), a Waimate boy, who gave the address, observed that the memorial was the outward expression of the high regard and appreciation they felt for the men and women from the district who had done their job. Before drawing aside the Union Jacks covering the tablets bearing the names of 149 men and three nurses who lost their lives during the war, the speaker quoted Kipling’s Recessional, “Lest We Forget.” He then withdrew the flags veiling the memorial, on which was the inscription: “To the glory of God and the honourable memory of the brave souls of Waimate and district who gave their all for us and freedom.” Three volleys were fired, the “Last Post” sounded, a prayer of dedication offered, and wreaths laid in tribute.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [22 December 2022]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Collections – Record number 0100972) [22 December 2022]; CWGC [17 January 2023]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [22 December 2022]; Timaru Herald, 23 December 1902, 23 December 1907, 15 December 1906, 5 October 1915, 14 October 1916, 10 November 1917, 26 April 1918, 28 April 1922, 13 November 1922, 26 April 1923, 14 October 1929, 27 July 1932, 28 December 1935, 22 June 1942, Temuka Leader, 24 December 1908, 28 April 1910, Dominion, 23 March 1915, Lyttelton Times, 15 May 1915, 21 October 1916, Marlborough Express, 31 May 1915, Hawke’s Bay Tribune, 12 June 1915, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 19 April 1916, 14 & 30 October 1916, 24 April 1922, 26 April 1923, NZ Times, 14 October 1916, Dominion, 14 October 1916, Otago Witness, 18 October 1916, 1 November 1916, NZ Tablet, 2 & 9 [x 2] November 1916, 4 October 1917, Press, 27 April 1922, 28 April 1923, 27 December 1935, Temuka Leader, 27 April 1922 (Papers Past) [07 February 2018; 16 April 2018; 30 April 2019; 02 & 27 May 2020; 07 May 2022; 21 June 2022; 22, 23 & 31 December 2022; 15 & 16 January 2023]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [22 December 2022]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [23 December 2022]; Christchurch Diocese Roman Catholic Baptisms Index (held by South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [13 January 2023]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file
• Other military personnel file

Related Documents

• RUSSELL William George - newspaper clippings (pdf, 427.8 KB updated 31-Jan-2023)

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