Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Born on 11 December 1896 at Sale, Victoria, Australia, Edward Ivanhoe Woodhouse Lee was the eldest son of Charles Woodhouse Lee and his wife Leah Lottie née Fisher. Edward was educated at Geraldine School, Mackenzie School at Cheviot, and later at Waitaki Boys’ High School. At the Waitaki High Schools’ prize night in December 1911, E. Lee of the Boys’ School was rewarded for first in Form III General Excellence (1st Arithmetic, 1st History and Geography, 2nd English). Perhaps too, he was the Master E. Lee who took part in a piano recital at St Luke’s Hall in December 1911, the participants being highly praised. His father was a stock agent at Geraldine in the early 1900s.

Edward joined the Bank of New Zealand on 24 May 1913 and was employed at the Ashburton branch at the time of enlistment. He put his age up a couple of years to enlist and was one of the youngest soldiers to leave Ashburton. From the first announcement that New Zealand would send an Expeditionary Force to the war he was keen to go, but because he was under age he did not manage to get away until the Fifth Reinforcements left. He had served for two years as a high school senior cadet and already belonged to the 2nd South Canterbury Regiment. At this time his father, whom he nominated as next-of-kin, was the Ashburton manager for Dalgety and Company. Edward stood at 5 feet 6 inches, weighed 130 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 32-35 inches. His complexion was brown, his eyes grey, and his hair brown. His sight, hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal; his limbs and chest well formed. His teeth were only fair. Free of diseases and vaccinated, he was in good bodily and mental health.

Embarking at Wellington on 13 June 1915 with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion, Private Edward I. W. Lee arrived in Egypt on 24 July. Eighteen days later, on 11 August 1915, he was wounded at the Dardanelles and died of his wounds that very day at the New Zealand Ambulance Station, Sazli Beit Dere, Gallipoli, Turkey, aged 18 years. As part of the assault on Chunuk Bair, Destroyer Hill, which overlooked Sazli Beit Dere, was heavily shelled by British warships before being captured by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles on the night of 6-7 August 1915. But such progress was dimmed by the massive loss of life in the following days. His name is recorded on the Chunuk Bair (New Zealand) Memorial, at the Chunuk Bair Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey. The Chunuk Bair New Zealand Memorial to the Missing at Gallipoli, Turkey, is inscribed thus –

IN HONOUR OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE NEW ZEALAND

EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

8TH AUGUST 1915

“FROM THE UTTERMOST ENDS OF THE EARTH”.

By October 1915 more than thirty ex-pupils of Waitaki Boys’ High School had given their lives, among them Edward Ivanhoe Woodhouse Lee, whose name was recorded on the school’s Roll of Honour, with pride in the part Waitakians had “played in this titanic struggle”. They, along with well over 200 on active service at this time, conveyed “very concrete and convincing instance of the effect of the imperialistic training that has characterised the school for so many years”. The record of those who had died was “a splendid one” and pupils past and present might “well feel proud of the achievement that their Alma Mater has established in so short a time, and in so great a field.” A deeply impressive service in memory of the ex-pupils who had lost their lives in the war was held in the Oamaru Opera House on 12 December 1915. The service opened with the singing of the hymn “Oh God! Our help in ages past” to the accompaniment of the 10th Regimental Band, followed by prayers, biblical readings, the hymn “For all the Saints, who from their labours rest”, the reading of the Roll of Honour, the playing of “The Dead March in Saul” and a lengthy address by a minister of religion. The singing of the National Anthem and the sounding of the Last Post concluded the service. An Old Waitakians’ Memorial Service of hymns, prayers and scripture readings was held on 4 April 1920 in the Opera House. Now the Roll of Honour was much longer - 118 old Waitakians had given their lives for God and Empire. Edward and many others were remembered and honoured by their Alma Mater.

Edward played for the Ashburton Old Boys’ Football Club, being held in high regard by those who knew him and very popular among his fellows. He was a member of St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Ashburton, where a special service was held in commemoration of Anzac Day 1917. On this occasion a memorial tablet to the memory of fallen soldiers was unveiled. At a very impressive service in the church commemorating Armistice Day in 1927, a very large, handsome marble memorial tablet was unveiled and dedicated. It had been given to the church and contained the names of all those members of the parish who lost their lives during the Great War, 41 in total including Private Edward Ivanhoe Woodhouse Lee. Following a parade from the Drill Hall to the church, there were hymns, choral singing, prayers and scripture readings. The service closed with the sounding of the Last Post and Benediction. The inscription at the head of the tablet reads – “To the Glory of God and in memory of those members of the Church in the parish of Ashburton who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War, 1914-1918, and to whom the east window is dedicated.”

Edward is remembered on the Bank of New Zealand Memorial plaque (Officers of the BNZ who laid down their lives in the Great War 1914-1919), Bank of New Zealand Arcade, Wellington. ‘In Memoriam: The names inscribed upon this tablet are those of officers of the Bank of New Zealand who laid down their lives in the Great War AD 1914-1919 waged against the nations of central Europe - Germany, Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria - who sought by force of arms to obtain world-wide dominion. In honour of their patriotism and valour. In admiration of their sacrifice. And in grateful perpetuation of their glorious and ennobling memory this monument is reverently dedicated. Their Name Liveth for Evermore.’ [AWMM].

YE

WHO PASS THIS WAY HOLD IN MEMORY

THE MEN OF

ASHBURTON COUNTY

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY

1914 – 1918

THEY WHOSE NAMES ARE HERE INSCRIBED, WERE

NUMBERED AMONG THOSE WHO AT THE CALL OF

KING AND COUNTRY, LEFT ALL THAT WAS DEAR TO

THEM, ENDURED HARDNESS, FACED DANGER AND

FINALLY PASSED FROM THE SIGHT OF MEN, BY THE

PATH OF DUTY AND SELF SACRIFICE, GIVING UP

THEIR LIVES THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM.

Memorial Inscription on Ashburton War Memorial [nzhistory.govt.nz]

In eighteen short years, Edward I W. Lee had been educated, had participated in sports, had worked from the age of sixteen, and had travelled the seas to serve king and country ever so briefly. He is honoured on the Bank of New Zealand Memorial, the Waitaki Boys’ High School Memorial, the Ashburton War Memorial, and St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Ashburton, Roll of Honour. A notice in the Ashburton Guardian of 11 August 1920 remembered Edward with love – “To memory ever dear.” Edward’s medals – 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal - were sent to his father in 1924 by which time he was living in St Albans, Christchurch. He had been at Alford Forest when the scroll and plaque were sent in 1921-1922. His four brothers – John Woodhouse Lee, Geoffrey Woodhouse Lee, Charles Woodhouse Lee and Dick Woodhouse Lee – all served in World War Two. Dick was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; Geoffrey died in a top-dressing plane crash.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [06 June 2015]; NZ Defence Force Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5544 0067256) [05 & 18 June 2015]; CWGC [15 August 2013]; Oamaru Mail, 5 & 15 December 1911, 8 September 1915, 19 October 1915, 13 December 1915, 5 April 1920, Sun, 7 September 1915, 27 April 1917, Ashburton Guardian, 7 September 1915, 26 April 1917, 11 August 1920, 12 November 1927, Press, 7 & 8 September 1915, 15 October 1915, 14 November 1927, New Zealand Times, 7 September 1915, Southland Times, 7 September 1915, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 7 September 1915, North Otago Times, 9 September 1915, 5 October 1915, 13 December 1915, Star, 20 September 1915, Free Lance, 1 October 1915 (Papers Past) [12 May 2015; 17 & 18 June 2015; 03 November 2019; 08 & 09 March 2022]; School Admission Record (Canterbury Branch NZSG) [05 June 2015]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [17 June 2015]; Ashburton War Memorial images (nzhistory.net.nz) [17 June 2015]; Memorial Plaque, Bank of New Zealand Arcade, Wellington. (Photo Paul Hickford, 2014; AWMM [18 June 2015]; Maunganui Transport Voyages (www.flotilla-australia.com/hmnz.t) [18 June 2015]; Gallipoli Places | NZHistory, New Zealand history online

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• LEE Edward Ivanhoe Woodhouse - newspaper clippings (pdf, 133.1 KB updated 10-Mar-2022)

Researched and Written by

Currently Assigned to

TS