Profile

LEE, Ernest Wilson
(Service number 6/491)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 2 October 1891 Place of Birth Temuka, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date 14 August 1914 Age 22
Address at Enlistment Royal Hotel Temuka, New Zealand
Occupation Farmer
Previous Military Experience 2nd (South Canterbury) Regiment
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mr J. Lee (brother), Temuka
Religion Church of England
Medical Information Height 5 foot 6 1/2 inches, dark complexion, hazel eyes, weight 127 lbs, chest 33 inches, good teeth

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation Main Body
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date 16 October 1914
Transport Tahiti or Athenic
Embarked From Lyttelton, New Zealand Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns Egyptian & Gallipoli
Service Medals 1914-1915 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 3 July 1916 Reason Medically unfit

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

2 September 1915: Cairo Hospital, chronic dysentery; 1916: Timaru Hospital

Post-war Occupations

Farmer

Death

Date 21 July 1964 Age 72
Place of Death Palmerston North,New Zealand
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Kelvin Grove, Palmerston North
Memorial Reference Area J, Block 009, Plot 010
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Ernest was born at Temuka on 2 October 1891 to of Henry & Catherine (nee Dawber) Lee, proprietors of Lee’s Hotel Temuka. He was admitted to the Temuka School on 5 October 1896 and passed standard 4 in October 1901.

Before joining up he gave his occupation as farmer and was working for Mr E. Jones at Mt Nessing, Albury. Enlisting at Timaru on 14 August 1914, he gave his current address as the Royal Hotel Temuka, and was described as being aged 22, single, 5 foot 6 ½ inches tall, of dark complexion, hazel eyes, weighing 127 lbs, chest 33 inches, having good teeth and of the Anglican faith. His brother, J. Lee of Temuka, was listed as his next of kin. Ernest had been a territorial soldier with the 2nd South Canterbury Regiment and he was to serve with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion (2nd South Canterbury). He left Timaru Railway Station with the 3rd and 4th contingents on 17 August 1914, being farewelled by the deputy mayor, Mr W.A. Pearson. On 16 October 1914, he embarked from Lyttelton with the Main Body on the SS Tahiti or Athenic, for Suez, Egypt. After service in Egypt, he embarked from Alexandria for the Dardanelles on 12 April 1915. On 1 September 1915, he was admitted to Cairo Hospital with chronic dysentery. Found unfit for further war service, Ernest was invalided back to NZ on SS Tahiti 20 November 1915, arriving back in Wellington near the end of December. After spending some time in Timaru Hospital, he was discharged from the army 3 July 1916. Ernest received the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal for his service to the Empire.

In 1918 he married Kathleen Monica Wilson and they farmed in the Patea and Waitotora districts until his retirement to Palmerston North. Ernest died at Palmerston North on 21 July 1964, aged 72, and is buried in the Kelvin Grove Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland Cenotaph database, Archives NZ (Personnel File), NZSG Index V5, Papers Past, NZ BDM Historical Records

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Ted Hansen (SC branch NZSG)

Currently Assigned to

TS

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