Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Richard Turnbull was born on 19 September 1892 at Dunedin, the third son of Scottish parents, Edward Turnbull and Elizabeth Fraser née Rae. Of the eight children born to Edward and Elizabeth, only four were living when Elizabeth died in 1924 and Edward in 1938. In late May 1915, men were “offering more freely” at Timaru. R. Turnbull, Timaru, was one of those who had passed the medical test and had signed on to leave Timaru for Trentham by special train on 29 May. He was one of the men given a rousing farewell when they went north to the concentration camp at Trentham in late May 1915. After afternoon tea in the Drill Shed and an address by the Mayor, amidst much cheering from the crowds, they were played to the railway Station by the Regimental Band and joined recruits from the south (Invercargill, Dunedin and Oamaru) on a very long special troop train.

Giving his address as C/o Railway Boarding House, Timaru, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs E. Turnbull, 73 Cargill Road, Dunedin. He was a labourer for D. C. Turnbull, Timaru, single and Presbyterian. Rifleman R. Turnbull embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade per the “Tahiti”, departing from Wellington for Suez on 9 October 1915. Returning by Draft No. 147 in March 1918, he was discharged, unfit, from the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 17 May 1918 and went to Railway Works, Waihao Downs, Canterbury. He married Edith May Bennett on 1 April 1918 at Dunedin. He re-enlisted on 20 September 1918 at Dunedin, now a married man.

Edith died in April 1935 when the youngest of their ten children was just three months old. Richard died on 18 January 1961 at Timaru, aged 68 years, and was buried with Edith in the Waimate Cemetery. A note on his personnel file reads “On 27 January 1961, the War Pensions Board decided that his death was due to his service with the forces.” Richard Turnbull had been gassed on Active Service. His younger brother Albert Oswald Turnbull also served in World War One and his older brother, Edward James Turnbull, was listed on the Reserve Roll.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [16 May 2022]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [16 May 2022]; Waimate Cemetery records 16 May 2022]; Waimate Cemetery headstone image (Waimate District Council) [20 May 2022]; Timaru Herald, 26 & 31 May 1915, Otago Daily Times, 25 January 1938 (Papers Past) [14, 20 & 22 May 2022]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.