Profile

LEEDER, Erastus William
(Service number 6/1227)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 22/01/1891 Place of Birth Cambrians, Central Otago, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date 13 October 1914 Age 23
Address at Enlistment 102 Taranaki Street, Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation Motor Mechanic
Previous Military Experience 2yrs service with Infantry Battalion
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs Amelia Leeder (mother), High Street, Timaru
Religion Church of England
Medical Information 5 foot 10 1/2 inches tall, fair complexion, hazel eyes, brown hair, weight 162 lbs, chest 33 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 Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date 16 October 1914
Transport Tahiti or Athenic
Embarked From Lyttelton, New Zealand Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns Egyptian & Gallipoli
Service Medals 1914-1915 Star, 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 25 September 1915 Reason Medically unfit

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Egypt - neurasthenia

Post-war Occupations

Chauffeur, motor mechanic, civil servant, railways worker

Death

Date 26 September 1985 Age 94
Place of Death Auckland, New Zealand
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Cremated, Purewa Crematorium 30 September 1985
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Erastus was born at Cambrians, Central Otago, on 22 January 1891, to William & Amelia (nee Dungey) Leeder. He attended the Waikaia School in 1898, and the Caversham School in 1900, where he received awards in Std 1 for attendance and writing.

When enlisting at Wellington on 13 October 1914, Erastus was employed as a motor mechanic for N. Nightendale, 102 Taranaki Street, Wellington. He was described as being aged 23, single, Anglican, 5 foot 10 ½ inches tall, of fair complexion with hazel eyes, brown hair, and weighting 162 lbs, chest 33 inches, with teeth good. He gave his next of kin as his mother, Mrs W.R. Leeder, High Street, Timaru. He stated he had had 2 years previous military service with the Infantry Battalion. Posted to the Canterbury Infantry Battalion, he left with the Main Body 16 October 1914, for Suez, Egypt, aboard SSTahiti or Athenic.

After service in Egypt, he joined his battalion at the Dardanelles on 5 May 1915, but was sent back to Egypt as unfit for military service on 27 June 1915. August 1915 he was returned to NZ on SS Tahiti and discharged as medically unfit on 25 September 1915, diagnosed as suffering from neurasthenia which was brought on by stress. He had suffered a blow to the head as a child which had caused fitting for some years. He was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medals for his service.

In 1916 Erastus married Jessie May Aston and had a son that also bore his name, In 1919, he was working as a chauffeur at Marton. In 1938 he was at Matapuna working as a motor mechanic. In December 1941 he again joined up and served as a Sergeant in the Ordnance Corps as a mechanic at Ardmore Workshops with the 9th Heavy Regiment, before being discharged on 15 June 1942.

Erastus died in Auckland 26 September 1985, aged 94 and was cremated at Purewa Crematorium on 30 September 1985.

Sources

Auckland Museum Cenotaph database (June 2015); Archives NZ (Personal File); ancestry.com.au; NZSG Index V5; NZSG NZ Marriages 1856-1956; Papers Past; Purewa Crematorium database.

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Ted Hansen (SC branch NZSG)

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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