CAMPBELL, George Davidson
(Service number 44965)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 5 August 1896 | Place of Birth | Hokitika |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 20 November 1916 | Age | 20 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | C/o Bank N S Wales, Timaru | ||
| Occupation | Bank clerk (Bank NSW, Timaru) | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mr John King CAMPBELL (father), 244 Tweed Street, Invercargill | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Reinforcements, G Company (part) | ||
| Date | 5 April 1917 | ||
| Transport | Devon | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Devonport, Devon, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ Rifle Brigade | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | 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 | 11 January 1965 | Age | 68 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Wellington (of Christchurch) | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Karori Cemetery, Wellington | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
George Davidson Campbell was born on 5 August 1896 at Hokitika, the son of John King and Mary (née Davidson) Campbell. His father who hailed from Scotland was the Town Clerk at Hokitika. George was a bank clerk with the Bank of New South Wales at Timaru when he was medically examined there on 18 November 1916 and enlisted on 20 November. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr John King Campbell, 244 Tweed Street, Invercargill. John and Mary Campbell had moved to Invercargill about the time war broke out. Rifleman G. D. Campbell embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, departing for Devonport, England on 5 April 1917 per the “Devon”.
He returned to New Zealand per the “Briton”, embarking at Plymouth on 24 December 1918. He was discharged on 26 February 1919, on the termination of his period of engagement, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. George married Ellen Elizabeth Barton Ward in 1920. His mother died on 24 September 1925 at her Invercargill residence and was buried at Invercargill. His father’s badly decomposed body was found on 4 December 1935 in bushes behind his Wellington home. He had been missing for a few days. Death was due to natural causes. He was cremated at Karori.
George Davidson Campbell died on 11 January 1965 at Wellington (but of Christchurch), aged 68 years. He was buried at Karori Cemetery, following a Requiem Mass at Island Bay. He was survived by his wife, son Ward Davidson Campbell, who served in World War Two, and daughter, Sister Mary David. “Mr George Davidson Campbell, who was manager of the Christchurch branch of the Bank of New South Wales from 1949 until he retired in 1961, died in Wellington on Monday at the age of 68. Mr Campbell, whose home was in Christchurch, joined the bank in 1912 and served in Wellington, Sydney and Westport before taking up the Christchurch appointment. Westport was his first managerial post. He served overseas in the First World War. From the time he came to Christchurch until last year when he was in poor health, Mr Campbell was a well known member of the Christchurch Golf Club. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.” [Press, 13 January 1965.]
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [20 April 2025]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [21 April 2025]; Karori Cemetery headstone transcription [21 April 2025]; Karori Cemetery record (Wellington City Council) [21 April 2025]; Press, 12 & 13 January 1965 (Papers Past) [21 April 2025]
External Links
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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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