Time line

From auditor to soldier.

WW1 broke out at the end of July, 1914. By August 1914, 11 of the Audit Department’s 61 staff had enlisted with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Ten sailed for Samoa on 15 August 1914 as part of the Samoan Advance Party.

The time line below shows the month during which the Audit Department’s staff enlisted. There were varying periods between their enlistment date and when they were sent abroad, and one did not serve overseas.

Some returned to New Zealand before being posted overseas a second time. One of them, Victor Bernard, returned twice, and was sent overseas a third time only to be killed a week before the war ended.

During the war, one in every 10 New Zealanders enlisted to fight, so the war had a profound effect on the nation. The losses were high – 5% of New Zealand’s military-age men were killed, which was the highest casualty rate among British Empire countries.

The loss of more than 18,100 men and women severely affected many communities and families, and so too did the return of men and women who were maimed or suffered from shell-shock.

1914

Clarence Dornford Thompson

Harry Latchford Marbrook

Adam Rae McNeilly

Charles Jeremiah Marsh Gair

John Buller Hicks Saxon

Donald McKay

Robert Hugh McMillan

William Charles Ryan

Thomas Stillingfleet Hamer

Victor Raymond Bernard

Robert Harry Martin

1915

Albert Andrew Cairns

John Charles Amphlett Dudley

Martin Clive Hamon

Claude Channon Hill

Alexander Watters

1916

George Edward Alley

Stanley Prescott Day

George Grant Smith

John McCausland Hamilton

James Mulcahy

Frank George Ludbrook

William John Kane

1917

Arnold Hore

Robert Maxwell Sunley

Alfred Beard Talbot

Thomas Treahy

John Edmond Engel

1918

Arthur Cecil Dalley

Henry Charles Steere

Clement Roy Edwards

William Scott Rarity