“For the Fallen”

At the end of the war some New Zealand soldiers returned home with brides
Image: Auckland Weekly News, 27 March 1919. Tauranga Museum Collection

As Armistice Day approaches the men and women who served in the First World War are on my mind.  More than five hundred Tauranga men, Māori and Pakeha, enlisted - a staggering number considering the town’s population was just over three thousand souls. Of those local men who served, one hundred and ten would lose their lives.

Forty-two Tauranga soldiers died in 1918, more than twice the number of any other year of the war. While the influenza pandemic had a significant bearing on this figure, the German Spring Offensive and the Allies ‘Advance to Victory’ were devastating factors. New Zealand troops participated in several major offensives including the Battles of Second Marne and Bapaume and the liberation of Le Quesnoy.

New Zealand troops’ last major action of the First World War was the capture of Le Quesnoy, a week before the armistice
Image: George Edmund Butler, ‘The scaling of the walls of Le Quesnoy’. Wikimedia Commons

Every soldier’s death is tragic regardless of when and how they died. However, like many, I have a personal reason for feeling a great sadness about those who during those final few months, so close to the end, lost their lives in battle. My Great-Uncle, Charles Raymond Carter, survived four years of war, including Gallipoli, only to be killed on 18 September 1918 aged 23. Here are a few of our town’s young soldiers who died so close to Armistice.

Lest We Forget

Thomas Lochead  (1890-1918)

William Lochead (1895-1918)

Lance Corporal Thomas Lochhead was killed in action in France on 26 August 1918, aged 27. As part of the 2^nd Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, he died at the Second Battle of Bapaume, one of the first engagements of the Hundred Days Offensive. Prior to enlistment Thomas was an active member of the community belonging to several Tauranga clubs. Originally from Canterbury, Thomas farmed in Te Puna with his father and brothers. His younger brother William died of wounds in Palestine in May 1918.

John Salt (1899-1918)

Lance Corporal John Salt was killed in action in France on 12 September 1918, aged 19. As a member of the 1^st Battalion of the 3^rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade, he died at the Battle of Havrincourt, the first time the German frontline was pierced. Born in Tauranga to Joseph and Sarah, John was a labourer for the New Zealand Railways prior to enlisting on the 7 March 1916. The Army was either unaware or turned a blind eye to John being just 17.

Thomas Bullick (1882-1918)

Lance Corporal Thomas Bullick was killed in action in France on 29 September 1918, aged 36. His Battalion, which was part of the Wellington Infantry Regiment, took part in the breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line – the main German defence system. Prior to enlisting Thomas worked as an electrician for the Tauranga Borough Council, which was at the forefront of the burgeoning electrical industry. Born in Canterbury, Thomas had strong family connections to Hastings and his name appears on the Hastings Cenotaph in Civic Square.

Charles Lilley (1896-1918)

John Ellison (1881-1918)

Lance Corporal Charles Lilley was killed in action in France on 1 October 1918, aged 21. Part of the 1^st Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment, he was killed on the final day of the Battle of Canal du Nord. He died two years to the day of enlistment. Charles had lived with his parents, Walter and Jane, at Omanawa Falls and worked as a Mill Hand for Tauranga Sawmilling Company. His death was the second tragedy for the Lilley family, who in March received the news that their daughter’s husband, John Ellison, had been killed in action. John and Florence were married three weeks before he embarked.