HARPER, Gordon Gerald
(Service number 7/516)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank | Second Lieutenant |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 15/02/1885 | Place of Birth | Christchurch |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | |||
| Occupation | Sheep Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | George Harper, Hereford St, Christchurch | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | Main Body | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Canterbury Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | 16 October 1914 | ||
| Transport | HMNZT 4, 11 Tahiti or Athenic | ||
| Embarked From | Lyttleton | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Canterbury Mounted RIfles | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM): For conspicuous gallantry between the 21st and the 30th August, 1915, at Kaiajik Aghala (Dardanelles), when in charge of machine guns. He invariably displayed great bravery and devotion to duty. L.G. 11 March 1916, p2746. Mentioned in Despatches (MID): in connection with operations described in General I. Hamilton's despatch dated 11 December 1915. L.G. 28 January 1916, p1210.
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 August 1916 | Age | 31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Egypt | ||
| Cause | died of wounds | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Cairo War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | On Memorial wall, Timaru; Geraldine War Memorial (as GG Harper DCM) | ||
Biographical Notes
Son of George and Agnes Margaret Harper of Christchurch. Phillip Hamilton Harper, Cuthbert Strachey Harper, Robert Paul Harper, Edmund Harper died 1917) George Herbert Harper and Eric Tristram Harper ( died 30 April 1918). On the outbreak of war he enlisted in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles' Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry and left New Zealand with the Main Body New Zealand Expeditionary Force in October, 1914. He saw much service in Gallipoli with the Machine-gun section of the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry, was wounded during the operations following Suvla Bay landing in August, 1915, and was sent to hospital in England. For his services during these operations he was awarded the D.C.M. and at about the same time, received his commission as machine-gun officer. After recovering from his wound he returned to Egypt in December 1915 and saw service in the operations on the Suez Canal up to the time of his death. He died at Cairo on 12 August 1916 from wounds received at the fighting at Romani, Egypt.
Sources
Alexander Turnbull Library MS Papers 1444; Letters 1914-15; Diary May-August 1915. The Museum Library has a copy of 'Letters from Gunner 7/516 and Gunner 7/517' by Barbara Harper (Ref. D640) This is an edited edition of the letters written by these two soldiers during World War 1. Powles, C.G. (1922). The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine. Auckland, N.Z.: Whitcombe and Tombs. Digitised copy on NZETC site. URL: http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Sina.html
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Liz Shea (SC branch NZSG)
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.