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medal, commemorative

human history
  • Other Name

    Memorial Plaque, WW1 (descriptive name)

    10/463 Private William Waihora McNeil, Wellington Infantry Regiment, NZEF (associated name)

    Next-of-Kin Memorial Plaque (alternative)

  • Description

    Next-of-Kin Memorial Plaque, WW1

    Commemorating the death of 10/463 Private William Waihora McNeil, Wellington West Coast Company (WWC), Wellington Infantry Regiment

    circular cast bronze medallion

    obverse: legend: * HE * DIED * FOR * FREEDOM * AND * HONOUR * ; Britannia facing left holding out a palm leaf wreath with trident in other hand; small dolphins on either side; standing at her feet a lion facing right, with oak branch to right; in exergue British lion vanquishing German eagle

    rectangular tablet on rhs with name:

    markings: medallist's initials on rhs above exergue: ECRP

  • Place
  • Associated Place
  • Accession Number
    2015.28.2
  • Accession Date
    03 Jun 2015
  • Department
medallion, commemorative 2015.28.2

Images and documents

Images

Artefact

  • Credit Line
    Collection of Auckland Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira, 2015.28.2
    Gift of Mary, William, Kenneth and Bruce Grant
  • Primary Maker

     Edward Carter Preston (Designer)

  • Place
  • Date
    Circa 1921
  • Associated Notes

    Memorial Plaque commemorating the death of 10/463 Private William Waihora McNeil, 8 August 1915.

    Privates Sutherland and Waihora McNeil were brothers and members of the McNeil family, one of the oldest settler families in Otago. Their grandfather James McNeil arrived from Scotland in 1849 on board the “Mooltan.”

    8/422 Private Sutherland Sinclair McNeil (known as “Sus”), born [30]/08/93, worked as a tram conductor before he signed up. Sus died on 14 May 1915, at the 17th General Hospital, Alexandria of a severe gunshot wound to the thigh sustained at Gallipoli on 9 May 1915.

    10/463 Private William Waihora McNeil (known as “Waihora” and nicknamed “Scotty”), born 17/08/95, was a seaman prior to the outbreak of war. He served on the New Zealand training ship “Amokura”, and later on the ferry steamer “Maori”. Waihora was killed in action on 8 August 1915, on Chunuk Bair:

    “West Coast Company on the left, and Hawkes Bay on the right were to lead the advance, supported by Taranaki right and Ruahine left…

    “Into the welter of the 8th August, the 5th Reinforcements had been plunged. Not many of them survived. The Regiment was but a shattered remnant now as it bivouacked on the side of Cheshire Ridge. Including the additions from the 5th Reinforcements, West Coast Company numbered only 51 instead of its full strength of 227. Other companies were in similar plight.”

    Source: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Well-t1-body-d9.html

  • Associated Event
    WW1; 1914-1918
  • Associated Person
  • Associated Place
  • Associated Date
    08 Aug 1915
  • Period
  • Media
  • Measurement Description
    diameter: 120mm
  • Measurement Reading

    120mm

  • Subject Category
  • Classification
  • Last Update
    15 May 2023
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