GUTHRIE, William
(Service number 7/1623)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank | Lance Corporal |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 3 March 1887 | Place of Birth | Burke's Pass |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 26 August 1915 | Age | 28 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | C/o H. H. Fisher, Albury | ||
| Occupation | Shepherd | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | R. GUTHRIE (father), Mount Nessing, Albury; later of North Street, Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | 7th Reinforcements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Canterbury Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | 9 October 1915 | ||
| Transport | Aparima or Navua or Warrimoo | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Suez, Egypt | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ Mounted Rifles | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Egyptian; Egyptian Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 12 June 1969 | Age | 82 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch Hospital of Hawarden | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | |||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
William Guthrie, known as Willie, was born on 3 March 1887 at Burke’s Pass, the second son of Robert and Catherine Rebecca (née McCassey or Rolleston) Guthrie. (His birth was register as William Robert Guthrie, but throughout his life William Guthrie was used.) His father Robert, from Scotland, was one of the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country. He died unexpectedly in early 1920 at Timaru, where he and Catherine lived in retirement. Along with the older of his siblings, Willie was educated at Burke’s Pass School. Like his brothers, he followed shepherding.
William was the first of four brothers to enlist for war service, doing so on 26 August 1915 at Trentham. A shepherd for his father at Albury, single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – R. Guthrie, Mount Nessing, Albury. Trooper W. Guthrie embarked with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles of the 7th Reinforcements, leaving for Suez, Egypt on 9 October 1915. He was reported wounded in March/April 1918. Suffering with malaria, William Guthrie was invalided home. He embarked at Suez per the “Kaikoura” on 6 March 1919. All his overseas service was in Egypt. He was discharged on 18 May 1919, in consequence of being no longer physical fit for war service on account of illness contracted (Malaria), and was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
William Guthrie married Ellen Clara Wright on 27 April 1922 at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch. They were to have four sons and four daughters. William died at Christchurch Hospital on 12 June 1969, aged 82 years. From Hawarden, he was buried at Horsley Downs Cemetery after Requiem Mass at St Raphael’s Catholic Church, Hawarden. When Ellen died in 1988, she was buried with him. Three brothers of William served in World War One – James, Robert and John Archibald.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [30 June 2024]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [21 May 2019]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [30 June 2024]; Colonist, 10 April 1918, Timaru Herald, 23 January 1920, Press, 13 & 14 June 1969 (Papers Past) [08 December 2015; 23 May 2019; 30 June 2024]; Horsley Downs Cemetery headstone transcription [30 June 2024]; Horsley Downs Cemetery headstone image (Find A Grave) [30 June 2024]
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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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