Roy Leslie Alexander
Born 17 Jan 1897 - Died 21 Aug 1918
- Service number
- WWI MB1839 AWMM
- WWI 1839 AWMM
- Also known as
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Navy AWMM
- Last rank
- WW1 Chief Motor Mechanic/Military AWMM Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Coastal Motor Boats AWMM
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- Roy Leslie AWMM
- Surname
- Alexander AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- —
- Service number
- WWI MB1839 AWMM
- WWI 1839 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- —
- Religion
- —
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 17 Jan 1897 AWMM
- Date of birth
- —
- Place of birth
- —
- Birth notes
- Son of Thomas A. Alexander of Ramarama, DruryPublic - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 15 June 2025 - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193836537/roy-leslie-alexander
- Address before enlistment
- New ZealandPublic - Kaia - Other Relative - 21 April 2015 - Nz kiwi
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- WW1 Thomas A. Alexander (father), Ramarama via Drury, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
- FatherPublic - Kaia - Other Relative - 21 April 2015 - Father
- Relationship status
- Pre 15 Nov 1916 AWMM Single/WWI AWMM
- SinglePublic - Kaia - Other Relative - 21 April 2015 - Single
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Navy AWMM
- Service number
- WWI MB1839 AWMM
- WWI 1839 AWMM
- Military service
- —
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
- Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) AWMM
DSM. London Gazette 23/7/1918 p. 8592 no. 30807. Awarded for action 22/23 April 1918 at Zeebrugge and Ostend on the Arrogant (CMB19) AWMM
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- WW1 10 Nov 1916 AWMM Engineer/Military AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
- —
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 15 Nov 1916-30 Jan 1917 AWMM
HMNZT 68 AWMM Vessel was Maunganui AWMM Motor Mechanic/Military AWMM HMS Hermione AWMM Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- —
- Days interned
- —
- Liberation date
- —
- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
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- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Wounded in Action, 23 April 1918 NP4018. AWO 2428/25.7.18 AWMM - Died of wounds, Cause of Death AWMM
Peritonitis and heart failure following wounds received in action AWMM
- Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW1 Chief Motor Mechanic/Military AWMM
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Coastal Motor Boats AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Roy Alexander enlisted for duration of hostilities.
He embarked as a Motor Mechanic and was promoted to Chief Motor Mechanic 1 December 1917.
Excerpt from Sir Roger Keyes, first dispatch. "The daring way in which the crews of these boats approach the shore, drawing the beams of the searchlights and the fire of the guns, then escaping in their own smoke, is splendid. Lieutenant Francis Harrison, who commanded the Ostend section of C.M.B.s, mentions the name of Sub-Lieutenant Frank A.W. Ramsay (C.M.B.19) for his coolness and quickness in laying the inshore calcium buoys under heavy machine-gun fire." (Keyes, R. (1919).
His medals are held by Papakura RSA.
Remembered on the Drury-Runciman Memorial and the Papakura - Karaka War Memorial
RNVR - Palmer recruit joined in Auckland 1916. Died aged 20 from wounds sustained in the Zeebrugge Raid 23 April 1918 - HMS Hermione Awarded the DSM for his part in the raid gazetted 19 July 1918. AWMM
About death
- Death
- 21 Aug 1918 AWMM
Age 21 AWMM - Date of death
- —
- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Died of wounds AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- Southend-on-Sea (Sutton Road) Cemetery, England AWMM F.5847 AWMM
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- —
- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 1 Hall of Memories AWMM
- Papakura - Karaka War Memorial, Great South Road, Papakura, New Zealand AWMM
- Drury-Runciman Memorial, near Drury Hall, New Zealand AWMM
- St David's Church, 68 Khyber Pass Road, Grafton, Auckland 1023 AWMM
Related objects
Sources
- External links
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/357338/roy-leslie-alexander/
Sources Used - Laine Moger, 'WWI soldier's Auckland family told little about their 21-year-old sons death, 100 years ago', www.stuff.co.nz, 20 April 2018
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/103250168/family-of-wwi-soldier-were-informed-by-letter-their-21-yo-son-was-dead-the-centenary
Further Reference - White ensign : Royal New Zealand Navy Museum heritage journal. Auckland, N.Z.: Navy Museum. Digital copy
http://www.navymuseum.mil.nz/about-us/whiteensignmagazine.htm
Sources Used - National Archives (UK). Military History resources.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/militaryhistory/?WT.ac=MHhomepage
Sources Used - Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand History online. Papakura-Karaka War Memorial.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/memorial/papakura-first-world-war-memorial
Further Reference - Keyes, R. (1919). Ostend and Zeebrugge: April 23: May 10 1918. London, U.K.: Oxford University Press. Digital copy Internet Archive
http://www.archive.org/details/ostendzeebruggea00keye
Further Reference - New Zealand History online: Drury Runciman memorial
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/memorial/drury-first-world-war-memorial
Further Reference - 'The Roll of Honour' Pukekohe and Waiuku Times, 30 August 1918
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PWT19180830.2.10
Further Reference - 'Roy Leslie Alexander' Record of Service, National Archives
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7711415
Further Reference - National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy. (n.d.). Roll of honour World War One.
https://navymuseum.co.nz/explore/by-themes/world-war-one/roll-of-honour/
Further Reference
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
- References
- McDonald, W. (2013). Honours and Awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1918. (3rd ed.). Hamilton, N.Z.: Richard Stowers.
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
45: 22 - The New Zealand Herald
Ceremony at Papakura: fallen soldiers honoured - address by the Governor. (1921, 6 June). New Zealand Herald. - White ensign: Royal New Zealand Navy Museum heritage journal
Wynd, M. (2008, Autumn). Chief Motor Mechanic: Roy Alexander. White Ensign. p. 11 - Attestation papers are held at Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton
- McEwan, J. (1995). Auckland Rockies : a history of Auckland's Naval Reserves from 1858-1995. Auckland, N.Z.: Pyramid Press.
- Maxwell, G. S. (n.d.). The Motor Launch Patrol. London and Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons, Limited.
- Terry, C. S. (1919). Ostend and Zeebrugge April 23: May 10, 1918. The Dispatches of Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, K.C.B., K.C.V.O. And other Narratives of the Operations. London, New York [etc.]: Oxford University Press, H Milford.
- Roll of Honour, Auckland Province (digital copy), 1914 - 1919. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2016-2.
- Wright, G. C. (2015). For king and country : the biographies of New Zealand’s WW1 naval casualties. [Auckland] : [Gerry Wright].
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