Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Clarence Edmond, the eldest of a family of three sons and four daughters of John English and Isabella (nee Paisley) Ryan, was born at Dunedin on 5 June 1888. In 1901 he was in Standard VII at Albany School, Dunedin. In 1913, when he was residing in Waimate, was elected onto the committee of the new Waimate Swimming Club . Clarence enlisted in Timaru on 13 August 1914, with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles with the rank of Trooper. At this time he was a self-employed horse breaker living at 13 Holme Street, Waimate, and stated he had had five years military service with the School Cadets. He was described as being aged 26, single, Presbyterian, 5 foot 11 inches tall, weighing 152 lbs, having a dark complexion, dark brown eyes, dark brown hair, teeth being fair and having a small mole over the spine at the root of his neck. His father, Mr John Ryan of Albany Street, Dunedin, was given as his next of kin. Trooper Ryan embarked from Wellington on 16 October 1914, with the Main Body of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, aboard either the Tahiti or Athenic, and arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, on 3 December. He served in Egypt until embarking for the Dardanelles on 26 June 1915. On the night of 6/7 August, at Bauchop Hill, he suffered a gunshot wound to the right femur and was admitted to ANZAC Hospital on 7 August. On 23 August 1915, he landed in Southampton, England, ex- the Hospital Ship Aquitania and admitted to No1 London Hospital at Camberwell. On 12 January 1916, he was transferred to the Red Cross Hospital at Richmond and again transferred to No.2 NZ General Hospital at Walton on Thames on 28 January. In early April 1916, he embarked aboard the Hospital Ship Dover Castle for Egypt, and on 18 April, was admitted to the NZ General Hospital, Cairo, whilst awaiting his return to New Zealand. On 5 May 1916, he left Alexandria aboard SS Tahiti, arriving back in NZ on 7 June. After a short spell of sick leave at home in Dunedin, he was admitted for further treatment to Dunedin Hospital, and on 12 July, was transferred to Queen Mary Hospital, Hanmer, for rehabilitation. Medically Boarded as unfit for further military service on account of illness contracted on active service, Clarence was discharged from the army on 9 November 1916, having served a total of 2 years and 89 days. For his service he was later awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal. Much later in 1967, he was presented with the Gallipoli Lapel Badge and Medallion. In 1919, Clarence was living at home with his parents at 14 Albert Street, Dunedin and employed as a wool classer and in 1920, was attending classes at the Dunedin Technical School. That same year he was awarded a war pension of 15 shillings for being an ex-member of the NZEF suffering permanent disability of between 20 and 100 percent. In 1923, he married Miss Grace Hume, and they were to spend the rest of their lives in the Dunedin City area where he carried on working as a wool classer. On 29 June 1970, Clarence died at his home, Flat F, Victoria Flats, Victoria Road, Dunedin, and was cremated on 1 July. His ashes are buried in the Andersons Bay Cemetery in Block 10A, Plot 7. When his wife Grace died on 31 October 1975, her ashes were interred in with his.

Sources

Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records at https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz; Ancestry.co.au at http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=allgs&gss=sfs63_home&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=clarence%20edmond&gsfn_x=1&gsln=ryan&gsln_x=1&MSAV=1&cpxt=1&cp=14&catbucket=rstp; University of New South Wales, Canberra NZEF Project "New Zeland Anzacs in ther Great War 1914-1918" at http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=224571; Dunedin City Council Cemetery records at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search (accessed 16 February 2016); Evening Star 18 December 1901 p6, Press 16 October 1913, Star 6 September 1915 p8, & Sun 8 Jun 1916 p11 via Papers Past at http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available.

Researched and Written by

Ted Hansen, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.