Profile

SCANNELL, William Gladstone
(Service number 3/330)

W G Scannell — (Otago Witness 9 September 1914)

William Scannell in 1962 — Close-up from a larger image of consulting staff at Christchurch Hospital in 1962. (Courtesy of The Cotter Medical Museum )

Consulting staff at Christchurch Hospital in 1962. — William Scannell is pictured in the back row, second from left. (Courtesy of The Cotter Medical Museum )

Otago medical students offer of service — A copy of a letter from final year medical students wrote offering their services when war broke out. William Scannell's signature is at the top of the second column. The original letter was framed and hung for many years on the corridor wall of the old Dunedin Hospital.

Due to the ongoing war (they all thought it would end in three months) they were recalled by the university in July 1915 to resume their studies or help where more experienced doctors had gone to war. They began their work on board the troopships, attending to men who were ill, vaccinating them for smallpox and inoculating them for typhoid. In William's case the typhoid vaccine (at this time the term vaccination referred only to smallpox) did not work well enough to stop him contracting it.
(Courtesy of The Cotter Medical Museum )

W Scannell and friends — William Scannell and his wife, with a magnificent fox-fur, pictured on the left. (Courtesy of the Cotter Medical Museum )

Aliases
First Rank	Captain	Last Rank

Birth

Date	18/06/1892	Place of Birth	Temuka

Enlistment Information

Date		Age
Address at Enlistment	Selwyn College, Dunedin
Occupation	Medical Practitioner
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Mrs H. SCANNELL (mother), Washdyke, Timaru; later of Ma Waro
Religion	Roman Catholic
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in	Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	Main Body
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	Medical Corps
Date	16 October 1914
Transport	Unknown Transport
Embarked From	Wellington	Destination	Suez, Egypt

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals	1914-15 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
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	10 March 1917	Reason	Struck off Strength of N. Z. E. Forces (3 October 1916).

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

August 1915 admitted to 15th General Hospital at Alexandria. 21 October 1915 in the Second General Hospital, London, with enteric - dangerously ill, but suggested he was doing well; contracted typhoid at Gallipoli & invalided to England in August 1915. Granted 2 months leave to proceed to England for change. On recovery he was sent to France but because of the severity of his illness he was unable to stand the strain.

Post-war Occupations

Medical practitioner; EENT specialist

Death

Date	28 September 1966	Age	74 yrs
Place of Death
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Son of Michael & Hannah (nee CONWAY) SCANNELL. 1923 married Alice Joyce WAKELIN. MB ChB. Returned to Port Chalmers, NZ, January 1917, by 'Navua' & then by express to Temuka. On his return to New Zealand, he intended to go to the Sanatorium, Cambridge; but was at 33 Harper St, Timaru, and later a medical practitioner in Wanganui.

Sources

Cenotaph Database [28 July 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives ref. AABK 18805 W5550 0102154) [23 April 2014]; NZ BDM historical records (DiA) [21 August 2013]; The Community Archive [21 August 2013]; Timaru Herald, 19 August 1915, 6 November 1915, 11 January 1917, 22 January 1917 (Papers Past) [17 September 2013].

External Links

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