STRACHEY, Ewen MacPherson
(Service number 6/1991)
| First Rank | Sergeant | Last Rank | Gunner |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 13 September 1892 | Place of Birth | Christchurch |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 13 January 1915 | Age | 22 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Blenheim | ||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | Volunteers & Territorials. 15th Nelson Regiment - serving. | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Claude Mainwaring STRACHEY (father), 48 Worcester Street, Christchurch | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | 4th Reinforcements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Canterbury Infantry Battalion | ||
| Date | 17 April 1915 | ||
| Transport | Willochra or Knight Templar or Waitomo | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ Field Artillery | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Balkans (Gallipoli); Egyptian; Egyptian Expeditionary Force; Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | 1914-1915 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
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 | 30 May 1970 | Age | 77 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Greytown, Wairarapa | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | |||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Ewen MacPherson Strachey was born on 13 September 1892 at Christchurch, the second of the three sons of Claude Mainwaring and Emily Chisholm Mackintosh (née McPherson) Strachey. The family had moved to the Timaru area when it came time for Ewen to start school. After two and a bit years at Gleniti School, he transferred to Waimataitai School in mid- 1900. From 1908 to 1909 he attended Christ’s College in Christchurch.
He enlisted on 13 January 1915 at Trentham. He had served with the Volunteers and Territorials and was serving with the 15th Nelson Regiment. A farmer at Blenheim, single and of Church of England affiliation, he named his father as next-of-kin – Claude Mainwaring Strachey, 48 Worcester Street, Christchurch. Sergeant E. M. Strachey embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion of the 4thy Reinforcements, departing from Wellington on 17 April 1915.
Gunner Ewen Strachey embarked at Plymouth on 8 November 1918 for the return to New Zealand per the “Tofua”. He was discharged on 18 January 1919 on the termination of his period of engagement. For his service in all theatres of war, he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
He married Doris Isabel Grace Bicknell in 1923. Ewen MacPherson Strachey died on 30 May 1970 at Greytown, where he had farmed since returning from the war. Doris lived to her late 90s. Ewen’s older brother, Claude Otto Strachey who served with the Australian Forces, lost his life in 1915 at Gallipoli. His younger brother, Richard Clive Strachey, was killed in action in 1917 in France.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [03 September 2023]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [August 2023]; School Admission records [03 September 2023]
External Links
Related Documents
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
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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