Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Oliver John Shaw was born on 31 October 1885 at Waimate, the fifth son and seventh of the fourteen children of James Henry and Maria (née Mitchell) Shaw. James’ parents came to New Zealand from Scotland in 1864, bringing with them four sons (James the eldest) and a daughter. Oliver was educated at Waimate Public School and Fairlie School. He was a good scholar and a talented performer. In 1898 at Fairlie School he was awarded the Standard V class prize and the Upper Room Boys’ good conduct prize. In May 1899 at the Fairlie st Columba Church annual soiree “Master Oliver Shaw geartly amused the young people reciting “A Kiss in School”.” Oliver and his brother Stuart gave recitations at the Fairlie Band of Hope gathering in July 1899. He performed a comic character sketch at Fairlie School in December 1899. At the 1899 school prizegiving, Oliver Shaw was awarded a special prize for first place in Standard VI and dux. He also received a special 10 shilling prize for the most courteous boy in the school as voted by the children. At the Fairlie School annual concert to raise funds for prizes held in December 1900, Oliver acted the part of a literary gent in the farce “Domestic Troubles”, and also presented “The Pride of Battery B” with good effect.

At the age of fourteen he left Fairlie for the North Island, perhaps for training. In 1904 he was gazetted as a letter carrier for the Post & Telegraph department at Waimate. In 1911 he was a clerk in Auckland. It must have been soon after when he went to Australia.

Oliver John Shaw enlisted on 7 September 1914 at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, with the Divisional Column of the 9th Light Horse. He was 28 years10 months old, single, Presbyterian and a station overseer. He named his mother as next-of-kin – M. Shaw, Puke-Ti, Waitahuna, Otago, New Zealand. He had served with the Ranfurly Rifles, New Zealand, discharged when his time expired. He was prepared to be inoculated against smallpox and enteric fever. Sergeant O. J. Shaw embarked on 11 February 1915.

He was at the Dardanelles when his brother Stuart was wounded and was dangerously ill with typhoid, July-August 1915. Just prior to this, Stuart had met Oliver for the first time in eight years, when Oliver visited the New Zealanders’ camp. Oliver, too, was wounded towards the close of the Gallipoli campaign.In late 1916 he was on the Sinai Peninsula, from where he wrote home of the “severe fighting, but glorious victories all along the line.” It was at this time, and when the five brothers were on active service, that he received his commission on the field. Lieutenant Oliver John Shaw was Mentioned in Despatches for conspicuous services during the period from 19th September 1918 to 31st January 1919 (London Gazette, 5 June 1919; Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No. 113, 6 October 1919). His mother acknowledged receipt of the certificate in July 1921. And in 1919 he gained a commission in the Regular Forces of the British Army.

Lieutenant Oliver John Shaw embarked at Port Said on 2 June 1919 for leave in the UK. He was granted leave with pay from 20 August till 31 October 1919, to attend Bangor University, Bangor, Wales (Forestry). He embarked for the return to Australia from England on 22 November 1919 per the “Aeneas”.

Back in Australia, Oliver was a farmer at Acacia Ridge, Moreton, Queensland. Oliver John Shaw, the son of James Henry Shaw and Maria Mitchell, died on 1 August 1971 in Queensland, Australia, aged 85. He was buried on 4 August in an ANZAC plot in the Mount Gravatt Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland. Oliver’s father who died in 1928 and his mother in 1938, were buried in the Waitahuna Cemetery.

Four of Oliver’s brothers - William James Henry Mitchell Shaw, Stewart Samuel Shaw, Sydney Richard Shaw and Stanley Shaw - all served with the New Zealand forces. Several cousins also served, one of them being killed in action - William Murray Shaw, Cecil John Shaw (with the Australian forces) and John Edward Shaw, all from South Canterbury, James Albert Gordon Shaw and Robert Cyril Shaw (killed in action in 1918), both from Taieri, Otago, and Robert Hyslop and George Dunn Hyslop, both from Milton; in addition, Herbert George Shaw enlisted in New Zealand. Oliver Shaw and his four brothers who served are remembered on the Greenfield War Memorial as Returned.

“At the intersection of the roads in the very heart of Greenfield, with the tall pines softly bowing their venerable heads and forming an august and sheltering rampart, lies a portion of ground dedicated by the patriotic hearts of the Greenfield residents to the memory of those who left the district in response to their country’s call in her time of need. As the days pass and the years come and go, and age waxes old with those who stood around on that day of dedication the lofty marble pedestal will still continue to stir the hearts of passers-by with feelings of pride at the names thereon enrolled, of gratitude for those who returned, of reverence for those who fell, and of mingled joy and pride at the glory they achieved and the peace they helped to win.” [Clutha Leader. 6 January 1920.] The soldiers’ memorial at Greenfield was unveiled in early January 1920. The hymn “Now Thank We, O Our God,” was sung, prayer was offered, and “The Last Post” was sounded. On the front is a scroll with the inscription, “War 1914/1919 Peace,” and below are the names of the nine fallen. Beneath are the words: “This monument has been erected by the residents of Greenfield in grateful recognition of those who served their King and country in the Great War.” On either side are the names of the men who returned, among the twenty-five names those of the five Shaw brothers - Stewart Shaw, Oliver Shaw, W. J. H. Shaw, Sydney Shaw, and Stanley R. Shaw.

Sources

Extracts from Australian Imperial Force Attestation Paper (National archives of Australia; ancestry.com.au) [28 February 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [24 February 2021]; Mount Gravatt Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia, record (Find A Grave) [28 February 2021]; Death registration reference (Queensland Government historical records) [28 February 2021]; Waitahuna Cemetery records [25 February 2021]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [24 February 2021]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [25 & 28 February 2021]; Australian Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [28 February 2021]; NZ Gazette entry (NZSG Family Research Centre [28 February 2021]; South Canterbury Times, 20 December 1898, 18 December 1899, 10 December 1900, Timaru Herald, 30 May 1899, Temuka Leader, 20 July 1899, Otago Witness, 25 August 1915, 11 January 1917, Evening Star, 27 August 1915, Clutha Leader, 6 January 1920 (Papers Past) [28 February 2021]

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Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

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