Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Ralph Sinclair Stechmann was the son of Francis and Angelina (Annie) Stechman, born at Timaru on 21 April 1895. Ralph’s father Frank, a pilot and the night watchman on the Timaru Harbour Board's dredge, later died suddenly in September 1920. Ralph was educated at Timaru Main School.

At the time of his enlistment in August 1914, Ralph was working for Captain Tait at Timaru Harbour, part of the “Pilot Service”. His last address was given as 73 Elizabeth Street, Timaru, the home of his father. He was listed as an Anglican.

6/550 Private Ralph Stechmann was assigned to the1st Battalion Canterbury Infantry Regiment on 13 Auguat 1914. He served at Gallipoli with the unit, before being withdrawn with illness, later returning to Egypt until his unit was transferred to the Western Front in 1916. During this time he had a brush with the military authorities for being absent without leave from 16 to 22 December 1915, for which he was given 168 hours detention and penalised 7 days pay. Later that year though Ralph was promoted to temporary Corporal in France on 25 October 1916, but relinquished the rank less than a month later on 15 November 1916. His small indiscretion was clearly not held against him as, on 15 May 1918, he was transferred to the Provost Corps, with the rank of Lance Corporal, before being promoted again to Corporal on 15 January 1919.

Ralph, like many fellow soldiers, had a number of issues with illness and injury. He was withdrawn to Mudros in 1915 with dysentery and later had conjunctivitis in Augusta and a corneal ulcer in November of 1916. In January 1917 he was treated in the venereal section at Codford and then, like many, caught influenza in early 1919. A descendant noted that he was gassed with mustard gas, which doesn’t appear on his records explicitly, but as a blistering agent may have been the underlying cause of his corneal ulcer.

Ralph was ultimately discharged on 23 November 1919. He had served his country for five years and 103 days, all but 93 of those days overseas. For his service he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal.

While still serving Ralph married Marie Gertrude Powell at St Michael’s Chruch at Shoreditch, London, on 21 May 1918. According to a descendant he met her while he was in hospital. Marie though unfortunately died in 1923 at Timaru. Some years later he remarried, this time to Lillian Lucy Port in 1937, in New Zealand.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [13 June 2018]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG; Tony Rippin, South Canterbury Museum

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.