Robert Tapsell

Forenames

Robert AWMM

Surname

Tapsell AWMM

Also known as

• Robert Tapsell AWMM
• Tapihana AWMM

Service number

WWI 16/840 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe

• Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM
• Te Arawa, Waka o Ngā Iwi, Ngā Iwi, Māori AWMM

Date of birth

• 11th August 1897
  Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 18 July 2024 - Military Record
• 11th of August
  Public - Brooke - Direct descendant - 16 January 2020 - Military personnel file

Place of birth

Maketu

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 18 July 2024 - Military Record

Birth notes

• Son of Retireti (Retreat) Tapsell and Ngātai Pēkamu Tapsell
  Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 9 March 2025 - https://www.geni.com/people/Pte-Ropihana-Tapsell/6000000026205906628
• Son of Mrs. Ngatai Tapsell, of Makatu, Bay of Plenty,
  Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 18 July 2024 - Military Record

Address before enlistment

Unknown AWMM Maketu, New Zealand AWMM

Next of kin

Mrs Ngati Tapsell (mother), Maketu, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand AWMM

Relationship status

Pre 18 Sep 1915 AWMM Single AWMM

War

World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

WWI 16/840 AWMM

Enlistment

WW1 Unknown AWMM

Embarkation details

WW1 18 Sep 1915-26 Oct 1915 AWMM
HMNZT 29 AWMM Vessel was Waitemata AWMM Private AWMM 2nd Maori Contingent AWMM New Zealand Expeditionary Force AWMM

Medical notes

Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

WW1 Private AWMM
New Zealand Pioneer Battalion AWMM

Robert Tapsell was the son of Mrs Ngatai Tapsell, of Maketu, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Next of Kin: Mrs J. Wilks, Falls Hotel, Henderson (Roll of Honour, Auckland Province 1914-1918 (Volume 2)) AWMM

Death

16 Sept 1916 AWMM

Cause of death

Killed in Action AWMM

Cemetery

Bulls Road Cemetery, Flers, Somme, France AWMM II. F. 20. AWMM

Obituary

TAPSELL.—On September 16, 1916, killed in action in France, Sergeant Robert Retreat Tapsell, late of Railway, Heuderson, and .son.of Mrs. N. Tapsell, of Maketu, aged 29 years.
- His duty done, God called: him—
He knew best—to give eternal rest.
- Inserted by his loving friend, Beryl Wilkinson.

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 11 May 2025 - Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 237, 4 October 1916, Page 12

Memorial name

• Rotorua War Memorial (World War 1) AWMM
• Auckland Railway Station, Te Taou Crescent, Auckland 1010. AWMM
• Railways Roll of Honour board. Wellington Railway Station, Pipitea, Wellington 6011. AWMM
• Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 1 Hall of Memories AWMM

Related objects

Related Serviceperson

External links

• Military personnel file
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R7823834
  Further Reference
• New Zealand Electronic Text Collection topic page
  http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-130773.html
  Further Reference
• A Street Near You record
  https://astreetnearyou.org/person/193999/-
  Further Reference
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
  https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/193999
  Further Reference
• Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
  https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20201108000000/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-CowMaor.html
  Further Reference
• New Zealand War Graves Trust
  https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/
  Further Reference

References

• New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
  Page No: 711
• Soutar, M. (2019). Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Maori In the First World War. New Zealand: David Bateman Ltd.
• The Fields of Remembrance Trust: Brothers Field, Auckland Museum (Armistice, 2018)
• Roll of Honour, Auckland Province (digital copy), 1914 - 1919. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2016-2.
• Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
• Pugsley, C. (1995). Te Hokowhitu a Tu : the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the first World War. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed.