Profile

DEWAR, John Gilbert Clifford
(Service number 48923)

Aliases Enlsited as Clifford John DEWAR
First Rank Rifleman Last Rank

Birth

Date 25 February 1891 Place of Birth Gore

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment 16 York Street, Timaru
Occupation Jeweller
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin John Adamson DEWAR (father), 16 York Street, Timaru
Religion Presbyterian
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 26th Reinforcements, G Company (part)
Date 9 June 1917
Transport Willochra
Embarked From Destination
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

Printer, compositor

Death

Date 27 October 1963 Age 72 years
Place of Death Timaru
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Timaru Cemetery
Memorial Reference General Section, Row 139, Plot 64
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

John Gilbert Clifford Dewar was born on 25 February 1891 at Gore, the first-born of John Adamson and Jessie (née Brown) Dewar. He went through life known as Clifford John. He and his three brothers attended Invercargill Middle School. The family was still in Invercargill in 1911; in 1912 they moved to Timaru for Mr Dewar’s health; In 1914 the youngest (Phyllis) started at Timaru Main School.

Private C. J. Dewar was in a batch of South Canterbury men who flocked to the colours in May 1915 and were accepted in Timaru for service at the Front. On enlisting (as Clifford John Dewar), he was a jeweller, working for his brother a master jeweller in the Arcade, Timaru. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kn – John adamson Dewar, 16 York Street, Timaru. He had served with the Invercargill Volunteers until they were disbanded. It was not until 9 June 1917 that Rifleman C. J. Dewar embarked, leaving with the 26th Reinforcements by the “Willochra”.

After the war, Clifford Dewar was a printer and compositor, being at one time the publisher of the Timaru Post. He married Gladys May Williams (May) in 1921. Clifford John Gilbert Dewar died on 27 October 1863 at Timaru, aged 72 years, and was buried in Timaru Cemetery. May died 19 years later and was buried with him. Two of his brothers were called up in 1917 – Lyall Clement Dewar and Douglas Norman Dewar.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [13 May 2022]; Timaru Herald, 15 May 1915 (Papers Past) [13 May 2022]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [14 May 2022]; Timaru Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [14 May 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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