Profile

GRINDELL, Charles
(Service number 90073)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 19/04/1882 Place of Birth Geraldine

Enlistment Information

Date 7 June 1918 Age 36 years
Address at Enlistment Geraldine
Occupation Labourer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Married. One child
Next of Kin Mrs Margaret Allan GRINDELL (wife), Talbot Street, Geraldine
Religion Church of England
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation
Unit, Squadron, or Ship
Date
Transport
Embarked From Destination
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

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

Labourer

Death

Date 21 November 1975 Age 93 years
Place of Death Oamaru
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Geraldine Cemetery
Memorial Reference General Section, Row 211, Plot 11
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Charles Grindell was born on 19 April 1882 at Geraldine, the youngest son of Thomas and Ellen (also known as Helen, née Jones) Grindell. Thomas and Ellen had married in 1872 in Gloucestershire, England. Charles got a mention when he received a prize at St Mary’s Sunday School, Geraldine in March 1891. Charles married Margaret Allan MCfarlane on 22 July 1914 at Dunedin, and daughter, Margaret Mary Grindell, was born on 27 August 1917 at Dunedin. He was a labourer at Geraldine when he enlisted on 7 June 1918 after his name was drawn in the ballot. He named his wife as next-of-kin - Mrs Margaret Allan Grindell, Talbot Street, Geraldine. At the Medical Board sitting at Timaru he was classified C1. “The CI men who left for camp yesterday from Temuka were entertained to luncheon by the Temuka Patriotic Entertainment Committee in Teesdale’s rooms. After luncheon speeches were delivered by Mr T. Gunnion, tho Mayor, Mr Collins (Goraldine), and Major Kennedy. The following men left under the charge of Sergeant-Major Brown: — A. E. Blunt, D. T. Bates, C. Grindell, L. Bellshire, J. J. Fitzgerald, J. Bennett.” [Timaru Herald, 24 September 1918.] But Private Charles Grindell was not in good shape. He had broken a leg in a plough accident and it was painful on marching and after physical training. “This was a very willing man and never missed a parade. He walked with a limp which got worse after much marching.” Consequently, he was not mobilized. He died on 21 September 1975 at Oamaru, aged 93 years, and was buried (ashes?) in the Geraldine Cemetery with Margaret who had died in 1957. His brother William also enlisted for service.

Sources

Temuka Leader, 17 March 1891, Timaru Herald, 10 June 1918 24 September 1918 (Papers Past) [02 February 2022]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [31 January 2022]; Geraldine Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [31 January 2022]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Logo. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.