Profile

McGOWAN, Herbert Edward
(Service number 6/4181)

Aliases
First Rank Lieutenant Last Rank

Birth

Date 28/07/1870 Place of Birth Moeraki, Otago

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment Willowbridge, South Canterbury
Occupation Armourer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Married. Three children
Next of Kin Mrs H. E. McGOWAN (wife), Willowbridge, South Canterbury
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 11th Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company
Date 1 April 1916
Transport Tahiti or Maunganui
Embarked From Wellington Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire)

Award Circumstances and Date

London Gazette, 1 January 1919

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

Discharge

Date Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Sheep farmer

Death

Date 22 November 1950 Age 80 years
Place of Death Avondale
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland
Memorial Reference Service Persons Area K, Row 11, Plot 51
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Herbert Edward McGowan was born on 28 July 1870 at Nelson, the eldest son of Edward McGowan and his first wife, Sarah Ann née Vickery. He married Margaret Davidson Cochrane on 28 June 1894 at Timaru. Herbet and Margaret had three children born and educated at Willowbridge – Herbert Stanley born in 1896, Margaret Evelyn born in 1898, and John Addinett born in 1903. When Herbert enlisted with the New Zealand Forces he was an armourer, residing at Willowbridge. H. E. McGowan was awarded the MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) on 1 January 1919. He returned to New Zealand per the “Bhamo” (Draft 234), arriving in May 1919. Herbert and Margaret divorced in 1940. He died at Auckland while she died at Waimate. Ernest James McGowan, a younger brother of Herbert, served in the South African War. Lester Vickery McGowan, a nephew, served as a sergeant in World War Two.

Sources

New Zealand War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [27 January 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Departement of Internal Affairs) [27 January 2020]; Waikumete Cemetery burial record (Auckland Council) [27 January 2021]; Otago Daily Times, 10 April 1919 (Papers Past) [03 July 2025]

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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