Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Lachlan Bain, known as Lachie, was born at Clandeboye near Temuka on 4 October 1890, the fifth and youngest son of Peter and Isabella Marion (née MacKinnon) Bain, of The Stumps, Temuka. Although his birth was registered as Lachlan, often Lauchlin was used. Peter and Isabella who married in 1884 at Leith, Scotland, arrived at Port Chalmers, New Zealand in 1885 with their first-born son Alexander MacKinnon Bain. Four more sons were born in New Zealand, followed by five daughters (one dying in infancy). Peter and Isabella spent their first few years in the Mackenzie Country before he took a manager’s position at Newlands, Clandeboye, near Temuka. Later (1904), Mr Bain purchased The Stumps Farm, remaining there until his death on 10 August 1913. Just the year before, he had handed over The Stumps to his sons (Alex, John, Donald and Lauchlan), where all were in 1913 but David who was in Australia. Lauchlin started at Orton School in February 1896, returning there in May 1898 after a few months at Clandeboye School and again in September 1899 after time at Clandeboye. It appears that he started work at the family farm, The Stumps, on leaving school.

With the outbreak of war in August 1914, Lauchlin Bain was the first from the Temuka district to enlist. Trooper Bain who had been posted to the Canterbury Mounted Rifles on 11 August 1914, attested at Timaru on 13 August 1914. He had served with the Geraldine Mounted rifles for 2½ years. A self-employed farmer, single, and Presbyterian, he named Alexander Bain, Temuka as his next-of-kin. Alexander was his eldest brother. Medically examined on 13 August 1914, Lauchlin Bain was 5 feet 7½ inches tall, weighed 151 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 34-36½ inches, with a medium complexion, blue grey eyes and light brown hair. His sight, hearing and colour vision were all correct, his limbs and chest well formed, and his heart and lungs normal. His teeth were fair, although his upper plate was well fitted and his lower good. Free from diseases and vaccinated (October 1913; revaccinated 9 January 1915 in left arm), he was in good bodily and mental health. He had a scar above the seventh cervical vertebrae. The Mounted Contingent from South Canterbury entrained at the Show Grounds at 11 o’clock on the morning of 15 August 1914. The men had to muster on the grounds at 7.15am for the final inspection. There amongst the civilians with a good many others was Bain. At the Addington concentration camp the men, comprising the South Canterbury Squadron, had a strenuous time – physical drill at 6.45am, and a lot of outfitting, overhauling gear, saddlery, etc, and generally making things look smart and efficient.

Having embarked with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles of the Main Body at Lyttelton on 16 October 1914, Trooper L. Bain disembarked at Alexandria on 3 December. He had three days in hospital on the transport (7 to 10 November 1914). An indiscretion occurred at Zeitoun Camp on 15 December 1914, Lauchlin Bain being confined to Barracks for 2 days for neglecting his Azure. It was 9 May 1915 when he embarked for the Dardanelles. In late July-early August 1915, Mr D. Bain, of “Stumps” Farm, Orari, received an interesting letter from his brother Trooper L. Bain, who was with the Main Expeditionary Force at the Dardanelles. This would be his brother Donald. “We had to go over a piece of ground covered by a machine gun and several rifles. Talk about going for your life. . . . . . After a hundred yards of that we had to go sneaking and crawling up gullies and round hills, with Turks all round us, till we got to the trench where the Wellington M.R. were. They came out of the trench and removed their wounded and we went in. Here we had another hot half hour and some of us narrow escapes. . . . . . . . I got separated here from poor Huxford and never knew he was hit till near daylight, when they told me he was dead. I had walked over his body lying in the bottom of the trench, twice in the night, carrying messages and did not know it was him. He was a good fighter, a hit too keen if anything, exposing himself too much. It was sad coming back to the dug-out and nothing left of poor Huxford but his pack. He and I had slept side by side ever since we left Temuka, and he was as good a mate as ever any man had. . . . . .” Suffering from debility, Lachlan was admitted to the 16th Casualty Clearing Station at Anzac on 16 August 1915 and discharged the same day, only to be admitted the next day with dysentery. Transferred to Mudros on 21 August, he returned to duty at the Dardanelles from hospital on 3 September. He was then admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital at Mudros on 8 October, suffering from influenza. He was transferred to the Lowland Casualty Clearing Station on 10 November and discharged ten days later.

After rejoining his unit details at Zeitoun on 11 January 1916, Bain left for Canal on 23 January. At Kantara with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, he was appointed Lance Corporal on 3 May 1916, then Temporary Corporal (unpaid) on 15 July 1916, Temporary L/Sergeant on 10 August 1916 and L/Sergeant (paid) on 14 October 1916, which appointment he relinquished on 30 October. He had gone to hospital, sick, this time at Hill 70 on 6 July 1916, rejoining his Unit on 14 July. Having been admitted to hospital, sick, again on 18 October 1916, he was admitted in succession to the 76th Casualty Clearing Station, the 31st General Hospital at Port Said, the 27th General Hospital at Abbassia, then the Aotea Convalescent Home at Heliopolis. Taken on Strength from hospital and posted to duty in the Field on 18 November 1916, he was transferred to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade on 20 November 1916 then posted back to the Canterbury Mounted Rifles on 28 November 1916. After being detached to the School of Instruction and promoted to Sergeant on 28 January 1917, Sergeant Bain rejoined his Unit on 19 February. As of 21 July 1917, Sergeant Bain was in Egypt. Detached to the Training Regiment from Brigade (Dental Treatment) on 11 August 1917, Sergeant L. Bain was attached again the next day. On 20 October 1917 he went on detachment to the Remount Camp at Rafa. Posted to his Unit from the Training Regiment (from Remount Camp) on 8 November 1917, he was nominated to attend the next Cadets Course for Commission in his Unit of the NZEF (Canterbury Mounted Rifles) in Egypt.

On 30 March 1918, Lachlan Bain went to hospital, sick. On 1 April 1918 he was admitted – with not yet diagnosed pyrexia. He was next admitted to the 45th Stationary Hospital on 5 April 1918, suffering from debility, to the 4th Stationary Hospital on 6 April 1918, then transferred to the 27th General Hospital at Abbassia (Cairo) three days later, with a relapse of fever. His progress was satisfactory, but another relapse was diagnosed on 16 April. On 27 April 1918 he was admitted to the Aotea New Zealand Convalescent Home at Heliopolis, still suffering from the relapse of fever but improving. Posted from Hospital (Aotea Convalescent Home) to duty on 28 May 1918, he was transferred to the NZ Mounted Rifles Brigade on 8 June, then from the Training Regiment three days later. On 24 June 1918, he was detached to the Cadet Course at the School of Instruction. On 12 June 1918, 7/4 Sergeant L. Bain had been recommended for nomination to an Officer Cadet Unit for training for a Mounted Rifles commission in the N.Z.E.F. His energy was good and he was a keen worker; his power of command was good, and he had excellent control of his troops; his physical fitness was ‘A’ class; he had a quiet manner but was most reliable. When a certificate was required in June 1918, he was medically in “A” category and fit for general service. He had varicocele but with no symptoms.

Among those mentioned in General Allenby’s despatches from the Holy Land, 25 June 1918, was Sergeant L. Bain, 7/4, Canterbury Mounted Rifles, the son of Mrs Bain, “The Stumps”, Temuka. He was specially mentioned for distinguished and gallant services and devotion to duty dated 3 April 1918. Having satisfactorily completed the Cadets Course at the School of Instruction, 2/Lieutenant Lauchlin Bain was to be 2/Lieutenant Supernumerary to Establishment as of 3 October 1918. He was posted to the 8th Squadron (CMR) on 9 October. A month later he was posted to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. On 19 November he was seconded for Duty in New Zealand.

Transport No. 208, “Malta”, was due at a New Zealand port in late January 1919, bringing home invalided soldiers (Mounteds from Egypt), among them Second-Lieutenant L. Bain, of Temuka, (on duty) and other South Canterbury men. He had embarked at Suez on 14 December 1918. “Temuka’s Greatest Day” saw over twenty boys from the Temuka district welcomed home. Flags were suspended across King Street and on many buildings. As the train came into the station, the big crowd cheered the soldiers who soon found their family and friends. Preceded by the Temuka Pipe Band and the Juvenile Brass Band, they were conveyed to the Post Office for the official welcome and praise for their work. Three rousing cheers were given for the returned men and three more for the boys who were still to return. “They had done their duty, and brought back victory,” said the Mayor. “The war was practically finished, . . . .” He hoped that the future of the world would be better than the past. Second-Lieutenant L. Bain, of Winchester, of Temuka, was among the afternoon arrivals. But Lachie was not one of the wounded. Second-Lieutenant Bain “left with the Main Body, being the first man to enlist in the mounteds in this district. He went right through the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns, has never missed an engagement through sickness or any other cause, and has never been wounded.”

When medically examined on demobilization, on 5 February 1919, he had slight bronchial catarrh and was slightly nervous but was otherwise good. On 6 February 1919 he applied to the Adjutant General in Wellington for instructions, his address for the next 3 weeks being The Stumps, Temuka. He had been granted privilege leave from 30 January 1919 to 25 February 1919, when he was discharged on 27 February 1919, being struck off the Strength of the NZEF and absorbed into the Strength of the unattached list with the rank of 2/Lieutenant. Having served overseas in the Balkans (Gallipoli, Mudros) and Egypt for well over four years, he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Although he went initially to Temuka, he was soon found at Lowcliffe, Hinds. A very successful welcome home to Lieutenant L. Bain and seven comrades was held in the Milford School on the evening of 14 February 1919. After a neat little speech of welcome, those soldiers who had not already received one, were presented with the Patriotic Society’s medal of honour. During the evening capital songs were given and inspiriting music was played for a most enjoyable dance. The ladies of Milford provided a dainty supper.

In April 1919 Mr L. Bain was elected to the committee of the Temuka Returned Soldiers’ Association. He was posted to the Retired List on 17 December 1921. He had signed on 7 November 1919 that he desired to resign his commission. His Parchment Commission was received on 21 January 1920. In the ballot for the Coldstream soldiers’ settlement, held on 18 September 1919, Lauchlin Bain (Temuka) was successful in drawing a section. So it was that Lachlan moved from The Stumps, Temuka to Coldstream where he continued to farm. When a meeting of the Coldstream settlers was convened in June 1920 by the owner of the Coldstream Estate, it was resolved to form a “Coldstream Settlers’ Association,” with Mr L. Bain, being authorised to draft rules and regulations for the association and to prepare a programme of work for submission to a further meeting. Lachlan Bain married Mary Ann Hampton in 1926. They had three daughters and two sons. In the mid-1940s Lachlan and Mary Ann moved into Ashburton. At the Ashburton Magistrate’s Court in April 1945, Lachlan Bain incurred a £2 fine for an unlicensed tractor. In January 1946, an Auckland woman’s sale to Lachlan Bain, Coldstream, of a wooden dwelling, subject to a reduction of £I00 in the vendor’s price, was approved. Lachlan Bain died at Ashburton on 22 August 1966, aged 75 years. Following a service at St Stephen’s Church, Ashburton he was buried at Ashburton Cemetery with Mary Ann who had died on 10 February 1963 at her Ashburton residence. He was survived by his five children. Their eldest daughter, Leila, who was a nurse, died in 2018, her ashes interred with Lachlan and Mary Ann. Lachlan had signed his Will in November 1965. He appointed an Ashburton solicitor and his son-in-law, Arnold Wool Stayt, a watchmaker of Ashburton, as executors and trustees. He bequeathed to his eldest daughter, Leila May Bain, all his “personal chattels”; to Arnold Stayt the sum of £75 in acknowledgment of his time and trouble in executing his Will; and he made some provision for his surviving children.

From January 1917, Trooper L. Bain (Main Body, Canterbury Mounted Rifles) appeared in the Temuka Leader’s Active Service List which was published regularly. His brother David Bain was also listed there, having served in World War One. Two older brothers, Alexander Bain and Donald Bain, of The Stumps, Temuka, were both called up in 1916. Alexander had been drawn in the first military service ballot in November 1916. They appealed together on 28 December 1916. They were partners in a farm. They had two brothers at the Front and had four sisters Their parents were dead. The farm had an area of 1053 acres, and they had 1000 sheep on it, and some cattle. They employed casual labour. The chairman of the Military Appeal Board said the family had contributed well to the man-power, and it would take the two brothers to manage the farm. Both appeals would he adjourned sine die, but one would have to go at some time. In September 1917, Alexander who had been passed by the Medical Board as Class C2 (fit only for Home Service), had his appeal adjourned sine die, and was to be called when required. John William Bain, the second of the Bain brothers, was called up in 1917 and enlisted in Wellington, but he was not in good physical shape. Margaret Marion Bain, the eldest daughter of the Bain family married Leslie Ashwell, a returned soldier, of Kelso, Central Otago at the family home, “The Stumps”, in early November 1917. Mrs Peter Bain (Isabella Marion) died at her residence, “The Stumps”, on 25 July 1923. She was remembered as most hospitable and kindly, ever ready to give assistance. She was predeceased by her son John William Bain who died at “The Stumps” on 30 October 1921, just 35 years old.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [03 May 2015]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5568 0134986) [03 May 2015]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs); Timaru Herald, 31 October 1904, 11 August 1913, 15 August 1914, 2 August 1915, 26 August 1918, 10, 16, 21 & 31 January 1919, 19 February 1919, 19 September 1919, 14 April 1920, 10 June 1920, Star, 15 January 1919, Press, 16 January 1919, Star, 18 August 1914, Press, 24 August 1914, 22 August 1918, 31 March 1963, 23 & 24 August 1966, Sun, 5 September 1914, Temuka Leader, 13 January 1917, 4 September 1917, 9 & 25 January 1919, 1 & 18 February 1919, 20 September 1919, 26 July 1923, Evening Post, 21 August 1918, Otago Daily Times, 31 August 1918, NZ Herald, 17 January 1919, NZ times, 21 March 1919, Ashburton Guardian, 19 September 1919, 27 April 1945, 18 January 1946 (Papers Past) [03 May 2015; 28 April 2015; 19 December 2015; 27 August 2017; 18 April 2018; 22 August 2020; 16 December 2020; 26 March 2021; 16 December 2020; 08 August 2022; 02 July 2023; 31 March 2026; 07 April 2026]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [03 May 2015]; Ashburton Cemetery headstone image & burial records (Ashburton District Council) [03 May 2015]; Timaru Herald, 23 & 24 August 1966 (Timaru District Library) [16 July 2015]; Probate record (Archives NZ/Family Search - Record number TU360/1966) [30 June 2017]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.co.nz) [29 March 2026]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file
• Other military personnel file

Related Documents

• BAIN Lachlan - newspaper clippings (pdf, 204.2 KB updated 14-May-2026)

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

TS