WILSON, William
(Service number 41063)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 11/12/1893 | Place of Birth | Milburn, New Zealand |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 10 November 1916 | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | 95 Vogel Street, Dunedin | ||
| Occupation | Telegraph linesman | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Married. One child (born 1915 at Timaru) | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs W. WILSON (wife), care of Mrs CULLEN, Milton | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 22nd Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Regiment, D Company | ||
| Date | 16 February 1917 | ||
| Transport | Aparima | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Plymouth, Devon, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Otago Regiment | ||
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 | 8 November 1977 | Age | 82 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Waimate | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
William Wilson, named for his paternal grandfather and known as Bill, was the older son of Scottish born Alexander Wilson and his New Zealand born wife, Maria née Cossgrove. Born on 11 December 1893 at Milton, Otago, he was educated at Tokomairiro School, Milton, and went out to work at the age of 14½. His father died in 1911 and sometime after his mother moved to Timaru. William married Katherine Cullen in April 1915 and their first child was born later in 1915 at Timaru. He was medically examined at Timaru in December 1915 and was rejected because of slight deafness. He was in Dunedin when he enlisted on 10 November 1916. Residing at the Waimate Hotel, William Wilson died at Waimate on 8 November 1977, aged 83 years, and is buried at Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin, his grave marked with a services plaque. His wife was a victim of the Seacliff Asylum fire on 8 December 1942, which climed the lives of 37 women. Bill’s brother, Harry, also seved in World War I and three sons of Bill served in World War II – Alexander William Henry, Stanley John and Richard Westall. His youngest sister married a Timaru ex-serviceman, William Michael Direen.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [23 June 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Depratment of Internal Affairs) [24 June 2020]; School Admission record [24 June 2020]; Andersons Bay Cemetery headstone image & burial record (Dunedin City Council) [24 June 2020]
External Links
Related Documents
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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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