Profile

MAY, Robert Gordon
(Service number 11991)

Aliases
First Rank Lance Corporal Last Rank

Birth

Date 04/08/1885 Place of Birth Orari, Canterbury

Enlistment Information

Date 11 January 1916 Age 30 years
Address at Enlistment Carlton Terrace, Wanganui
Occupation Telegraphist (Post & Telegraph Dept)
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Married
Next of Kin Mrs Grace E. MAY (wife), care of Post-office, Wanganui; [11 Jan 1916] later No. 2 Cavell Place, Gonville, Wanganui [9 Aug 1918]
Religion Church of England
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship New Zealand Postal Service
Date 6 May 1916
Transport Mokoia or Navua
Embarked From Wellington Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
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 Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 7 January 1965 Age 79 years
Place of Death
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Glenfield Cemetery, Auckland
Memorial Reference Row L, Plot 25
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Robert Gordon May was born on 4 August 1885 at Orari, Canterbury, the third son of John and Elizabeth Ann (née Bennett) May. John and Elizabeth arrived in New Zealand from Cornwall in August 1874, with two daughters. Little John was born in November 1874 and died nearly four weeks after, in December. Robert married Grace Edwina Beauchamp on 27 May 1908 at Wanganui. He was a telegraphist with the Post & Telegraph Department at Wanganui when he enlisted. He named his wife as next-of-kin - Mrs Grace E. May, care of Post-office, Wanganui. By August 1918, Grace was at No 2 Cavell Place, Gonville, Wanganui. Lance Corporal R. G. May embarked with the New Zealand Postal Service of the Expeditionary Force, leaving from Wellington for Suez, Egypt, on 6 May 1916. Corporal R. G. May returned to New Zealand per the “Willochra”, which was due at Wellington on 15 April 1919. Reaching Wanganui on 16 April, the local men were officially welcomed. Robert Gordon May died on 7 January 1965, aged 79 years. He was buried at Glenfield Cemetery, Auckland, with Grace who had died in 1960. His brother, Frederick Cecil May enlisted for service.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [01 February 2022]; Evening Post, 4 April 1919, NZ Times, 4 April 1919, Wanganui Chronicle, 17 April 1919 (Papers Past) [03 February 2022]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [31 January 2022]; Glenfield Cemetery records (Auckland Council) [03 February 2022]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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