McGETTIGAN, William John
(Service number 11/2502)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank | Driver |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 15 July 1892 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Napier Street, Timaru | ||
| Occupation | Printer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | William McGETTIGAN (father), Napier Street, Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Weelington Mounted Rifles, B Squadron | ||
| Date | 4 March 1916 | ||
| Transport | Willochra or Tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Suez, Egypt | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | New Zealand Field Artillery | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 |
Death
| Date | 2 July 1971 | Age | 78 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Palmerston North | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Tiro Tiro Road Cemetery, Levin | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
William John McGettigan was born on 15 July 1892 at Timaru, the son of William and Annie Maria (née Bergin) McGettigan. McGettigan left in March 1916 with the Ninth Reinforcements and was never wounded throughout his service in Egypt and France. He went to Germany with the army of occupation, remaining there until the New Zealand troops were sent to England. Driver W. J. McGettigan was in a contingent of South Canterbury soldiers who came from Christchurch by a special train and were welcomed home on 9 May 1919. A great crowd gathered at the station and cheered loudly when they arrived. The soldiers expressed their appreciation to the ladies who gave them fruit and cigarettes. The Mayor congratulated the soldiers on their heroic achievements abroad, thanked them on behalf of the whole community and expressed the hope that they would soon regain their health, before calling for three hearty cheers for them. Mr Craigie, M.P., said that all were proud of what they had done in the struggle for liberty and freedom, and expressed the hope that “they would have many happy years in this prosperous land”.
William married Mona Thelma Mary Clarke in 1924. He died on 2 July 1971 at Palmerston North, aged 78 years, and was buried in Tiro Tiro Road Cemetery, Levin. His wife had died almost 17 years before.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [23 June 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Depratment of Internal Affairs) [24 June 2020]; Tiro Tiro Road Cemetery headstone transcription (Horowhenua Family History Group) [23 June 2020]; Timaru Herald, 29 April 1919, 10 May 1919 (Papers Past) [21 & 24 June 2020]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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