OGILVIE, WIlliam
(Service number 8/2348)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 12 September 1879 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 16 December 1915 | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Inglewood, New Zealand | ||
| Occupation | Farm Hand (for J Wallace, Inglewood) | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | C. Ogilvie (brother), care of Ballantyne and Co., Christchurch | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 4th Reinfiorcements, Otago Infantry Battalion | ||
| Date | 17 April 1915 | ||
| Transport | HMNZT 21 Willochra | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington, N.Z. | Destination | Suez, Egypt (disembarked at Albany, Australia) |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal | ||
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 | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | |||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | |||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
William Ogilvie (Service no. 8/2348) gave his place and date of birth as Timaru and 12 September 1875. However, there is no record for William Ogilvie being born in NZ in 1875. There is however a listing for a William Ogilvie born on 12 September 1879 (1879/16235), with the parents listed as William and Margaret. It appears William's his parents, William and Margaret (nee Sandilands) Ogilvie, died in 1897 and 1899 respectively, and are both buried in Timaru Cemetery. There is also a headstone in the Waikumete Cemetery & Crematorium for William Ogilvie "of Timaru" with birth and death dates of 1879 and 1930.
William was attested for service at Trentham on 17 February 1915, and went on to train with the 4th Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Battalion. He was described as 39½ years of age, with a dark complexion, blue eyes, with black hair. It was also noted he had a scar on the right shin. On embarkation his next-of-kin was listed as his brother, Charles Ogilvie "C/o Ballantyne & Co, Christchurch". William gave his occupation as being a farm hand for J Wallace, Inglewood.
William served was relatively short - 101 days, only 40 of those overseas. His service ended relatively soon after, being disembarked at Albany on 28 April 1915 after only being in transit for twelve days. A medical board, which met on 27 May 1915, found that Willaim was suffering from varicose veins and was discharged – finding in fact he should not have been accepted for service, but noting he was of “very good” character. He was returned to New Zealand and later awarded the British War Medal.
Sources
SCRoll web subnmission by J Macdonald, 7 September 2025; Auckalnd War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [12 September 2025]; Mitary Personnel file, Archives New Zealand [12 September 2025]
External Links
Related Documents
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Researched and Written by
Tony Rippin, South Canterbury Museum
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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