Canterbury Mounted Rifles NZ

[Polly.Glott]

First off, I apologise if my post is naive and ignorant - I really want to become better informed about the details of my grandfather's and gt-uncle's time in the CMR. I would be so grateful if anyone could fill me in with some details. (My grandpa was so profoundly affected by his experiences that he would never speak of them, and his brother Jack and their best mate were both killed at Gallipoli.)

As I understand it, 12 young men from the Waioeka Gorge, East Coast, NZ joined up together, in Auckland. Not sure why the CMR and not one of the other mounted units. I would really like to know who they were, and whether they took their own horses with them, and how I could investigate this. Grandpa and Uncle Jack were in Egypt in August 1915, as I have letters to their mother in Somerset about their impending departure for the Dardanelles. I have no idea when they had arrived there. How long was their training period in Egypt? By 28 August, one of the brothers was dead, and the other very severely wounded at Hill 60. I have a very moving letter from one of their mates to the surviving brother, my grandpa, describing the attack and how Jack had died, mentioning the Connaught Rangers and the Aussies. Where can I find more info about the attack? I have no detail at all of what happened to the very few survivors of the mates from Waioeka. Would they have been removed immediately to a hospital ship, or were there field hospitals on the Peninsula? The only info I ever had from my grandmother was that the ship that brought them to hospital in Exeter was so overcrowded that wounded men slept on the decks. Grandpa's gangrene was so advanced that he had to have extensive amputations. My grandmother was a VAD in Exeter and then in Malta, and I understand that they met in England rather than Malta. So many questions and uncertainties that I still kick myself for not finding out before they died. I would so appreciate any snippets of info for the benefit of my interested grandchildren. Thanks!

[Waddell]

This might be a good place to start-

 

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1CMRi.html

 

New Zealand service records are likely to be online. 

 

Have a look here-

 

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/researching-first-world-war-soldiers

 

If you provide their names it would help as well.

 

Scott

Edited 27 November , 2018 by Waddell
Added more.

[Main Body]

http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph

 

I'd try this link first: just key in your Grandfather's name and/or service number if known, and conflict (you could do the same for your Uncle Jack).

This will bring up an overview of his service record, with links further down to his full military personnel file (this will give precise dates as to his whereabouts at any given time, and when they arrived in the Dardanelles etc ). The full personnel file can also provide a wealth of information regarding background, physical characteristics, his conduct whilst enlisted and his medical record. Some of the handwriting in the files can be quite difficult to decipher, especially as it has a lot of "army speak". Good luck!

Regarding the assault on Hill 60, there are several books to choose from: Chris Pugsley's "Gallipoli the New Zealand Story" and Terry Kinloch's "Echoes of Gallipoli (In the Words of the Mounted Rifles)" are the two I would definitely consult first. Richard Stowers "Bloody Gallipoli" has a very detailed section on all the New Zealand casualties, so some information about your Uncle Jack will be there (mostly taken from his service record).

As to why they were enlisted in the CMR, hopefully their service records will tell. I know that initially, most New Zealand units reached their full complement of men very quickly, so perhaps your Grandfather & Uncle were transferred to a unit still short of men. An alternative reason could be due to heavy casualties, the CMR needed to be bolstered by men from different regions. If your Grandfather arrived in the Dardanelles in August 1915, he was probably in a later group of reinforcements (the Mounted Rifles,without their horses first turned up on the peninsula in May 1915). Again, his service record will tell you what batch of reinforcements he came with.

I know that the original members of the Mounted Rifles (part of "The Main Body") in many cases took their own horses (if they were deemed up to scratch by the army) and saddles, for which the army reimbursed them. However, the horses were left in Egypt when they went to Gallipoli, as the terrain wasn't suitable for mounted warfare. All the Mounted Rifle regiments on Gallipoli essentially fought as infantrymen.

Hope this helps.

 

[Polly.Glott]

Wow, this is great! Thank you so much! I can see I have a lot of research ahead.

[Jack Wyatt]

7 hours ago, Polly.Glott said:

Wow, this is great! Thank you so much! I can see I have a lot of research ahead.

 

Hi Polly,

 

I would recommend this book as it deals with the Gallipoli battles post the August Offensive.  The Hill 60 battle is included in great detail and includes the VC awarded to Lt Hugo Throssell 10th Aust Light Horse at Hill 60.

 

GALLIPOLI: Final Battles and Evacuation of ANZAC by David W. Cameron | PB, 2011

[Martyn61]

Polly.Glott, if you give the names of the men you are researching it would help immensely. If you can give their service numbers all the better.   Many people on these forums have extensive research databases and it may well be that they feature on these.   It is possible they are in one or more of the 600 odd books that have been written specifically about the first NZEF.