LAWLOR, Denis
(Service number 8/756)
| Aliases |
|
| First Rank |
Private |
Last Rank |
Private |
Birth
| Date |
20 Apri 1887 |
Place of Birth |
Orari Bridge, Geraldine, New Zealand |
Enlistment Information
| Date |
25 August 1915 |
Age |
27 |
| Address at Enlistment |
Morton Mains, Southland, New Zealand |
| Occupation |
Railway Surfaceman |
| Previous Military Experience |
|
| Marital Status |
Single |
| Next of Kin |
Miss Mary Lawlor (sister), Temuka |
| Religion |
Roman Catholic |
| Medical Information |
5 foot 10 inches tall, fair complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, weight 164 lbs, chest 37 inches, good teeth |
Military Service
| Served with |
NZ Armed Forces |
Served in |
Army |
| Military District |
|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation |
Main Body |
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship |
Otago Infantry Battalion |
| Date |
16 October 1914 |
| Transport |
Hawkes Bay or Ruapehu |
| Embarked From |
Port Chalmers, New Zealand |
Destination |
Alexandria, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With |
|
| Last Unit Served With |
Otago Infantry Battalion |
Military Awards
| Campaigns |
Egyptian & Gallipoli |
| Service Medals |
1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
| Military Awards |
|
Death
| Date |
3 June 1941 |
Age |
54 |
| Place of Death |
Napier, New Zealand |
| Cause |
|
| Notices |
|
| Memorial or Cemetery |
Park Island Cemetery, Napier |
| Memorial Reference |
|
| New Zealand Memorials |
|
Biographical Notes
Denis was born at Orari Bridge on 20 April 1887, the fifth son of Maurice & Catherine Lawlor. Prior to joining up for WWI, he was employed in South Otago, as a plate layer for the Railways Department and living at Morton Mains, Southland. Enlisting into the 10th Otago Battalion at Dunedin on 25 August 1914, he was described as being aged 27, single, 5 foot 10 inches tall, of fair complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, weighing 164 lbs, chest 37 inches, teeth good and of the Catholic faith. He gave as his next of kin, his sister Mary Lawlor of Temuka. After training, Denis left Port Chalmers with the Main Body on 16 October 1914, aboard SS Hawkes Bay or Ruapehu, arriving in Alexandria 3 December 1914. After Egyptian service, he embarked for the Dardanelles on 12 April 1915, and, on 18 April, was admitted to the Australian Stationary Hospital Lemnos, suffering from measles and pneumonia. His condition was serious as for the next few months he was shuttled back and forth between Egypt and England, before finally leaving Suez, Egypt on 6 March 1916 aboard SS Maheno for return to NZ. 28 April 1916. There he was admitted to the Hanmer Convalescent Home for further treatment and finally discharged from the army as medically unfit on 17 July 1916. For his service he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. In 1919 Denis was working in Christchurch as a tramway conductor, in 1928 as a labourer on Omapere Station, Hastings, and in 1935 he was a hotel employee at the Carlton Club Hotel, Gisborne. Denis died in Napier Hospital on 3 June 1941, aged 54, and is buried in the Park Island Cemetery.
Sources
Auckland Museum Cenotaph database (June 2015); Archives NZ (Personal File); ancestry.com.au; Papers Past
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Ted Hansen (SC branch NZSG)
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
Tell us more
Do you have information that could be added to this story? Or related images that you are happy to share? Submit them here!