Profile

BLAIR, George Turnell McNeil
(Service number 28849)

Aliases
First Rank	Private	Last Rank	Private

Birth

Date	03/05/1888	Place of Birth	Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date	29 June 1916	Age	28 years
Address at Enlistment	C/o F. H. Smith, "Waratah", Albury
Occupation	Shepherd
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Miss M. BLAIR (sister), care of Mount Magdala Home, Christchurch
Religion	Roman Catholic
Medical Information	Height 5 feet 4¾ inches. Weight 126 lbs. Chest measurement 33-36¾ inches. Complexion dark. Eyes hazel. Hair black. Sight - both eyes 6/6. Hearing good. colour vision normal. Limbs well formed. Full & perefct movement of all joints. Chest well formed. Heart & lungs normal. Had had ilnesses. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. No vaccination mark. Good bdoily & mental health. No slight defects. No fits.

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	18th Reinforcements, J Company
Date	11 October 1916
Transport	Tofua
Embarked From		Destination	Plymouth, Devon, England

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With	Canterbury Regiment

Military Awards

Campaigns	Western European
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	25 October 1918	Reason	No longer physically fit for War Service on account of wounds received in Action.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Station hand, farm labourer, ploughman

Death

Date	28 June 1958	Age	70 years
Place of Death	Hilton, Geraldine (sister's residence)
Cause
Notices	Timaru Herald, 30 June 1958
Memorial or Cemetery	Timaru Cemetery
Memorial Reference	Services Section, Row 109, Plot 6
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

George Turnell McNeil Blair was the first-born of George and Margaret (also known as Mary, née Stewart) Blair. George and his brother Robert Blair embarked together on 11 October 1916 per the Tofua. The father of the family died when the children were young, and thereafter they were cared for by various people. His mother, who was reported in ill health when his brother William died while working in a paddock in April 1911, had died by 1917.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [11 December 2016]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5520 0015419) [06 January 2017]; Timaru Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [11 December 2016]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [11 December 2016]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [27 December 2016]; Probate record (Archives NZ/FamilySearch) [27 December 2016]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [27 December 2016]; Timaru Herald, 21 April 1911, 27 June 1917, 18 February 1919, Oamaru Mail, 18 January 1918, New Zealand Herald, 18 & 26 January 1918, Otago Daily Times, 18 January 1918, Star, 4 May 1918 (Papers Past) [27 December 2016; 06 January 2017]; Timaru Herald, 30 June 1958 (Timaru District Library) [30 December 2016]

External Links

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