Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

William Henderson was born on 28 November 1892 at Geraldine, the second son of William and Rachel (née Thornton) Henderson. He was the third successive William to bear the name – his grandfather, his father, then young William. William and his siblings were surely educated at Orari School (Orari South). He may well have started school a few days before his fifth birthday. The annual treat in connection with Orari School was held in the schoolgrounds on 27 January 1899. “The weather, after the muggy dull weather we have been experiencing lately, was glorious, and consequently the attendance was large, so much so that it was with difficulty that all could be accommodated in the schoolroom for the prize-giving.” W. Henderson received third prize in the Boys’ Preparatory I class – surely young William. His uncle, Alfred (Alf) Henderson, was dux of the school. In January 1901, William was awarded an attendance prize at Orari South School. At the Orari School’s annual sports in late January 1904, W. Henderson came in second in the over 9 years boys’ 100 yards race.

In November 1913, William Henderson was one of a number of young men who faced charges under the Defence Act in the Magistrate’s Court at Geraldine. He was charged with failing to attend a parade in mid-October. It was alleged that he had not attended parade since June, but Henderson said that the only parade he had missed was the one for which he was charged. He was convicted and discharged. In another Defence Act case in June 1914, he was fined 40 shillings. On enlisting on 29 June 1916 at Trentham, William Henderson, 29166, was a labourer for his father at Orari. He was already serving with the 8th South Canterbury Mounted Rifles. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – William Henderson, Orari. He had been medically examined on 25 May 1916. Standing at 5 feet 8 inches, weighing 154 pounds, and with a chest measurement of 35-38½ inches, he had a fair complexion, blue eyes, and dark hair. His sight, hearing and colour vision were all good, his limbs and chest well formed, and his heart and lungs normal. He had no teeth. Free from illnesses, diseases and fits, and vaccinated, he was in good bodily and mental health.

Private W. Henderson embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion of the 18th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Plymouth, England, on 11 October 1916 per the “Tofua”. Disembarking on 29 December, he marched into Sling. He proceeded overseas on 1 February 1917, joining his battalion in France. Casualty List No. 601, published in June 1917, listed William Henderson (Orari) among the wounded. He had been wounded on 7 June – gunshot wound in his left leg – and admitted to the Ambulance, then to the Casualty Clearing Station, and on 8 June to hospital at Abbeville. He was transferred to No. 5 Convalescent Depot on 23 July and discharged to the Base Depot at Etaples, France on 23 August. He was detached to No. 4 Vety Hospital at Calais on 17 September 1917, before marching in at Etaples on 2 October. After being admitted to the Segregation Camp on 24 November, he again marched in on 17 December, was transferred from the 2nd Battalion Canterbury and posted to Strength in the Field on 21 December, then attached to duty. On 31 December 1917, William was admitted to the New Zealand General Hospital (Rouen), sick. From 27 December 1917 till 4 January 1918, he was suffering from Tachycardia. As of 5 January 1918, he was dangerously ill with pleurisy at the No. 1 Stationary Hospital at Amiens. Still dangerously ill on 14 January 1918, he was removed from the Dangerously ill list on 29 January. He was again in hospital at Wimereux in France, with severe pleurisy, from 9 till 12 February 1918. He was moved to England per the Hospital Ship “Cambria” on 17 February and admitted to the 4th London General Hospital. It was on 16 April 1918 that he was transferred to the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch. On 3 May 1918 he was classified unfit because of the pleurisy.

W. Henderson, 29166, returned home on Troopship 187. The “Ionic” which carried a large number of invalided and wounded soldiers, left Plymouth on 24 August 1918 and arrived at Auckland on 6 October. Officers and men on the troopship complained of the fare and accommodation. Some of the returning men were forced to purchase extra supplies from the ship’s staff. One dormitory was said to be overcrowded. During this same voyage an experiment was made to provide daily instruction for soldiers – farming (the most popular), commerce, economics, English history, general knowledge, French, English, mathematics, technics, shorthand, book-keeping, chemistry, and architecture. On his conduct sheet, it was noted that he was absent without leave from Queen Mary Hospital, Hanmer in October 1918 and forfeited 3 days pay. He was discharged on 5 December 1918, no longer physically fit for war service (pleurisy), and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal (now hel dby the Temuka Courthouse Museum).

William Henderson married Belbena (Belbeina) Mary Stevenson on 9 June 1920 at Pleasant Valley, Geraldine. William and Belbena were to have four children – Myra Else, Ian Alfred, Desmond William Alan Keith. William and Belbeina lived all their married lives in or near Geraldine. Back at Orari in July 1920, William wrote asking for a form to be filled in “as I have lost my Pay Book and the Station master will not grant it without my Pay Book . . . .”

In March 1960, the secretary of the Geraldine Returned Services’ Association wrote to the Paymaster General of the Army Department on behalf of 29166 William Henderson – “His paybook was burnt in a fire. Mr Henderson says he has no recollection of drawing his gratuity when he was discharged in November 1918 from Hanmer Hospital. Could this matter be investigated?” The reply confirmed that he had been paid War Service gratuity of £54.13.6d for his NZEF service from 11 October 1916 to 9 October 1918, the payment issued on 11 November 1919. William Henderson had indeed made application on 27 September 1919 when his postal address was Orari, South Canterbury. William Henderson died on 5 January 1988 at Timaru, aged 95 years, and was buried in Geraldine Cemetery with Belbena who had died in 1971. There was a funeral service at St Andrew’s Church, Geraldine. The RSA publication carried notice of his death. He was survived by his daughter, two sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Desmond, the second son of William and Belbena, died in 1962. Mrs W. Henderson who assisted in the afternoon tea tent at the carnival held at Orari in aid of the Red Cross funds in mid-September 1917 was likely William’s mother. Alfred Henderson who was killed in action in 1918 in France and is remembered on his parents’ headstone in Geraldine Cemetery, was an uncle of William Henderson, 29166. Both William Henderson and Alfred Henderson, and more than sixty others, are remembered on the Orari Roll of Honour 1914-1918 which is displayed in the Orari Hall. William John Scobie Henderson who was also born at Orari, served in World War One and is remembered on the Orari Roll of Honour, may have been a cousin of William.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [9 September 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5539 0053494) [17 September 2015]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [16 September 2015]; Temuka Leader, 28 January 1899, 29 January 1901, 2 February 1904, 6 November 1913, 26 June 1917, Timaru Herald, 23 June 1914, 23 June 1917, 17 September 1917, New Zealand Times, 30 September 1918, Press, 7 January 1988 (Papers Past) [15 September 2015; 23 May 2020; 03 August 2020; 01 August 2022; 11 & 12 November 2023]; Geraldine Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [19 September 2015]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [12 November 2023]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

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