Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Born in Pleasant Point on 17 September 1891 to Lawrence & Mary Ann Laurenson, Pleasant Point, Daniel was employed by Canterbury Farmers Association Geraldine as a Stock Agent prior to his enlistment. Daniel enlisted on 14 August 1914, into the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, with the rank of Sergeant, having had had previous service with the 8th (South Canterbury Rifles), a local Territorial unit. He was described as being single, aged 22, 5 foot 7 inches tall, 149 lbs in weight, hair brown, eyes blue, complexion fair, chest measuring 33 inches, having bad teeth (the uppers being false), and of the Presbyterian faith. He gave his father as his next of kin. On 16 October 1914, he embarked with the Main Body from Wellington, for Suez, Egypt, on SS Tahiti or Athenic, disembarking at Alexandria 3 December 1914. In May 1915 he landed on the Dardanelles. On 20 August he was admitted to Mudros Hospital with dysentery, and on 1 September, transferred to the Military Hospital in Fulham, England. In April 1916, he was back in Egypt but soon returned to Codford Depot in England where, on 15 January 1917, he was discharged from the NZEF to take up a commission in the No.2 Cavalry Cadet Squadron, Kildare, Ireland. The Timaru Herald reported on 29 June 1918, that his parents had received word from the officer commanding King Edward’s Horse, in France, that their son Lieutenant D.G. Laurenson, is reported missing. He gave a description of the action Lt Laurenson was involved in and hoped that he may still be alive, promising to write on hearing any more news. It also stated that Lt Laurenson had been fighting on the Italian Front before moving to France. The Otago Daily Times (ODT) on 25 March 1919 reported Lt D.G. Laurenson, Cavalry Special Reserve, formerly RSM (Regimental Sergeant Major) in the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, has got back from Germany. He had become a POW sometime around the previous last May. The ODT also reported on 5 November 1919 that on 7 November, a grand concert was to be held at Pleasant Point by the Timaru Scottish Society, to present medals to returned soldiers, Lt D.G. Laurenson being one of the recipients. For his service, Daniel received the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. The Evening Post of 10 May 1928, reported that Daniel had divorced from his wife Renee Lillian. Daniel and Renee had married in England and she came out to NZ aboard SS Athenic, leaving Plymouth for Dunedin on 15 January 1920, bound for Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, where Daniel was working as a stock agent. Daniel later continued to work as a salesman and land valuer in the Wellington region and he died in Wanganui, 2 June 1961, aged 69, where he was cremated. At the time of his death he was working as a land valuer for Real Estate firm, Harcourt’s.

Sources

Auckland Museum Cenotaph database (June 2015); Archives NZ (Personal File); ancestry.com.au; Papers Past

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Related Documents

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Researched and Written by

Ted Hansen (SC branch NZSG)

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