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McKEE, Bernard
(Service number 68541)

A formal portrait of the McKee brothers of Waimate, probably taken prior to their departure for service in 1917. — The brothers are likely to be Bernard, Gregory and Francis (in uniform), plus Cornelius (not in uniform) who failed his medical due to hernia. Their other, older brother, Owen, was also balloted for service in June1917, but refused to take his medical as he believed in unlawful, and was imprisoned as a result. Given that history it is unlikely he is one of those pictured.
Three of the brothers are pictured in uniform, bearing cap badges of the 8th (South Canterbury) Mounted Rifles. Two wear matching collar tabs, while the brother standing in the centre wears Mounted Rifle Reinforcement collar tabs, used by the 25th to 47th Reinforcements. The brother sitting on the left is probably Bernard (Barney) also has a number collar tab - possibly reading 36, which he is shown wearing in another portrait.
The rear of the print bears a barely readable name "Ethel Elderton", whom Cornelius married in 1927.
(South Canterbury Museum 2019/179.107)

A formal portrait of Bernard (Barney) McKee of Waimate, probably taken prior to departure for service in 1917. — Barney is pictured in uniform, bearing cap and collar badges of the 8th (South Canterbury) Mounted Rifles. He is also wearing a collar tab (numner) for the 36th Reinforcements which he was drafted with.
The rear of the print also bears the message:
"To Con [Cornelius] wishing you the very best of luck from your affectionate brother Barney." (South Canterbury Museum )

A formal portrait of Bernard (Barney) McKee of Waimate, probably taken in the latter half of 1918. — Barney is pictured in uniform, bearing cap badge of the Imperial Camel Corps, to which Barney was transferred to from the 8th (South Canterbury) Mounted Rifles in June 1918. (South Canterbury Museum 2019/179.109)

Aliases
First Rank	Trooper	Last Rank

Birth

Date	25 May 1894	Place of Birth	Waimate

Enlistment Information

Date	14 September 1917	Age	23
Address at Enlistment	Waihaorunga, Waimate
Occupation	Farmer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Cornelius McKee (brother), Waihaorunga, Waimate, New Zealand
Religion	Roman Catholic
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	36th Reinforcements Mounted Rifles Brigade
Date	21 February 1918
Transport	Moeraki then Transhipped to "Ormonde" at Sydney for Suez
Embarked From	Wellington, New Zealand	Destination	Suez, Egypt

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns	France
Service Medals	British War Medal, Victory Medal
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	11 July 1919	Reason	Invalided

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Suffered measles, then Malaria. Sent home on the "Kaikoura" on 6 March 1919

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date	18 March 1985	Age	90
Place of Death	Christchurch
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Ruru Lawn
Memorial Reference	Blk 10 plot 172
New Zealand Memorials	St Patrick's (Waimate) Memorial list (June 2015)

Biographical Notes

Bernard was the son of Owen Francis and Margaret McKee. He was one of nine children. Several brothers, namely Joseph Francis, Gregory, Cornelius Patrick, and Owen James Francis McKee also called to serve in the war.

After the war Bernard married Mary Murray Alice Beck 1929.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph database (May 2015); Archives New Zealand; New Zealand BDM Historical Records online Christchurch City Cemetery records

External Links

Researched and Written by

Tony Rippin (South Canterbury Museum); Liz Shea, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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

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