ROBERTSON, George Reid
(Service number 8/703)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 10 October 1886 | Place of Birth | Silverstream, near Fairlie |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | 26 Hanover Street, Dunedin | ||
| Occupation | Labourer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs S. ROBERTSON, Hotel Bristol, Ghuznee Street, Wellington | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | Main Body | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Otago Infantry Battalion | ||
| Date | 16 October 1914 | ||
| Transport | Ruapehu or Hawkes Bay | ||
| Embarked From | Port Chalmers, Dunedin | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Otago Infantry Battalion | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 |
Death
| Date | 7 August 1915 | Age | 28 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Gallipoli, Turkey | ||
| Cause | Killed in action | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Chunuck Bair (New Zealand) Memorial, Chunuck Bair Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
George Reid Robertson was the youngest son of James McGregor and Sarah Ann (née Ashbrooke) Robertson. His first education was probably at Silverstream School, followed by Timaru Main and Timaru South schools. His father served on the Silverstream School committee. Tragedy struck the family when Mr James McGregor Robertson suffered a serious accident in a heavy fall while mustering in the back country of Ashwick station late in April 1900. He was sent to Timaru hospital in a serious conditionwith a crushed arm. It appears that he never fully recovered.. Late in 1904 he faced banruptcy. James had been a shepherd in the Fairlie area for 12 or 14 years. After the family came to Timaru in early 1904, Mrs Robertson had been conducting a boarding house, and James had been ill, when they got into debt. James died in September 1905 at the Timaru Hospital and was buried in the Timaru Cemetery. widow Sarah married widower James Holmes, many years older than Sarah, on 23 January 1907 at St Mary's Church, Timaru. James had come up from Southland the year before. Sarah, however, was living in Wellington when both her sons enlisted. George was reported as missing before being determined killed in action. His oldest brother, James Ashbrooke Robertson, served in World War I. (Note - Although the Personnel file gives George's birthplace as Silverstream, Otago, he was surley born at Silverstream, South Canterbury. The birth was registered at Fairlie and his parents were living at Silverstream, South Canterbury at the timel)
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotapha Database [17 January 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal affairs) [17 January 2020]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [17 January 2020]; Timaru Herald, 25 April 1894, 13 December 1904, 27 September 1905, South Canterbury Times, 1 May 1900, Southland Times, 17 September 1915 (Papers Past) [18 January 2020]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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