Donald McKay

Donald McKay was from Timaru. He joined the Audit Department in March 1908, and by the outbreak of WW1 had attained the position of Audit Examiner, Class VII. He had passed the Senior Civil Service Examination.

Donald joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force when he was 22 years old. On 15 August 1914, Donald was sent with the Samoan Advance Party as part of the Wellington Regiment.

On his return from Samoa in 1915, he left the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and rejoined the Audit Department as an Audit Examiner.

In September 1917, Donald rejoined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He was sent to the United Kingdom, in May 1918, with the New Zealand Field Artillery. From the United Kingdom, he was sent to Étaples in France with the 5th Artillery Battery, 2nd Brigade.

On 4 October 1918, Donald was shot in the arm in fighting around the French town of Crèvecoeur. He was treated at Abbeville Hospital in France and then transferred to Hornchurch Convalescent Hospital in the United Kingdom.

Donald was returned to New Zealand in April 1919. A medical assessment concluded that he was unfit for any further military service, and he was discharged from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Donald was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the Victory Medal, and the British War Medal. He returned to work for the Audit Department as an Audit Examiner, Class VI.

He later held the position of Audit Inspector, Nelson. At the time of his retirement from the Audit Department in 1948, he held the position of Audit Inspector, Christchurch.

Donald died at Timaru on 29 May 1956.