David George Aghan
I whānau mai i te 20 Jun 1892 - I mate atu i te 1 Dec 1976
- Nama Hōia
- WWI 13299 AWMM
- 185864 AWMM
- Ingoa kārangaranga
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- Te Ope o Tū / te peka
- Army AWMM
- Te tūnga whakamutunga
- Inter War
- Pakanga
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
E pā ana ki
- Taitara
- —
- Ngā ingoa tuatahi
- David George AWMM
- Ingoa whānau
- Aghan AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Ingoa kārangaranga
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- Nama Hōia
- WWI 13299 AWMM
- 185864 AWMM
- Ira tangata
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- —
- Pono
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Mātātuhi
Ngā tuhinga
Te whānautanga
- Whānautanga mai
- 20 Jun 1892 AWMM
Wahgunyah, Indigo Shire, Victoria, Australia AWMM - Rā i whānau mai ai
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- Wāhi Whānau
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- Tuhinga mō te whānautanga
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- Wāhi noho i mua i te whakaurunga
- Unknown AWMM 274 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
- Mahi whai muri i te pakanga
- Mining Engineer/Civilian AWMM
- Uri kiritahi
- William Young Aghan (father), 23 Mountfield Street, Brunswick East, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia AWMM
Ngā pakanga me ngā whawhai
- Pakanga
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Kauhanga riri
- 1914-1916 AWMM Egypt AWMM
- Te Ope o Tū / te peka
- Army AWMM
- Nama Hōia
- WWI 13299 AWMM
- 185864 AWMM
- Urunga ki te ope taua
- Whakapikinga / Tukunga / Whakawhitinga
- —
Ngā tohu taumata rau ope taua
- Mētara me ngā Tohu
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Te Whakangungu me te Urunga atu
- Whakangungu ope taua
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- Branch Trade Proficiency
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- Te urunga
- WW1 Unknown AWMM
Age 23 AWMM
French Polisher/Civilian AWMM - Pakeke i te whakaurunga
- —
- Mahi i mua i te ekenga waka
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Te maha o ngā ekenga waka
- Taipitopito ekenga waka
- WW1 27 May 1916-26 Jul 1916 AWMM
HMNZT 54 AWMM Vessel was Willochra AWMM Trooper AWMM New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade AWMM New Zealand Expeditionary Force AWMM
Mauhere o te pakanga
- Kia mau ki ngā taipitopito
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- Ngā rā i mauherehia ai
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- Rā i puta ai
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- Ngā kōrero mō te puta i te mauhere pakanga
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- Te rā i whakahokia atu ngā hōia i mauherehia ai
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- Nama motuhake mō te mauhere pakanga
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Whakapapa hauora
- Tuhinga hauora
- Height, Unknown Period AWMM
5 feet 7 inches AWMM - Complexion, Unknown Period AWMM
Dark AWMM - Eye colour, Unknown Period AWMM
Brown AWMM - Hair colour, Unknown Period AWMM
Black AWMM - Weight, Unknown Period AWMM
9 stone AWMM - Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Admitted at Kantara 24 August 1917 AWMM - Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Transported on hospital train to Cairo AWMM - Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Admitted to convalescent home in Heliopolis, Egypt due to effect of heat AWMM - Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Admitted to convalescent home in Port Said 13 September 1917 where his condition improved. AWMM - Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
29 September 1917 Discharged , fit for duty AWMM
- Height, Unknown Period AWMM
Te tūnga whakamutunga e mōhiotia ana
- Te tūnga whakamutunga
- Inter War 5 Sept 1919 AWMM
Discharge on termination of engagement AWMM - Te tūnga whakamutunga
- —
Kōrero taurongo
- Alfred John Aghan (13300) and his younger brother David George Aghan (13299) were Australian-born siblings of Chinese descent who served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during World War I.
Alfred was born in Victoria in 1890 and David in 1892 or 1893, the sons of William Ah Gan, a migrant from Guangzhou in southern China, and Eliza Southgate, who was English. In 1904 the family anglicised their surname from Ah Gan to Aghan. David’s date of birth is recorded in World War II Australian Military files as 20 June 1893. He later voluntarily enlisted in the Australian Military Forces Militia (service number 185864).
In 1916 the brothers left Melbourne for New Zealand and enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Although eligible to serve as British subjects, they found it easier to enlist in New Zealand. Both joined the Auckland Mounted Rifles. They arrived in England before proceeding to Egypt, and served in Egypt and Palestine, contributing to mounted operations across Sinai and the Middle East. Their service reflects the often overlooked participation of men of Chinese descent within the forces of the British Empire during World War I.
Alfred’s notebooks and photograph albums document daily life and campaigning conditions in the desert. After the war, the brothers returned home to New Zealand aboard the Ulimaroa, and later settled again in Melbourne. Alfred married Violet Catherine Reardon in 1921 and David married Joy Alvin Pugh. They entered business together and remained active within returned soldiers’ networks.
In 2016, the Aghan family gifted Alfred and David’s wartime collection, including albums, identity discs, badges, pay books, notebooks and personal effects, to Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira. These taonga are now held in the Museum’s Human History and Documentary Heritage collections, ensuring that the story of the Aghan brothers remains visible within New Zealand’s wartime record.
Alfred died in 1961 and David in 1976. In later generations, their Chinese heritage was consciously reclaimed by their descendants (Profile written for “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 initiative by Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand). AWMM
Te matenga
- Matenga
- 1 Dec 1976 AWMM
Age 83 AWMM - Rā i mate ai
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- Pakeke i te matenga
- —
- Wāhi Mate
- —
- Te momo matenga
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- Tuhipoka mō te matenga
- —
- Urupā
- Warrnambool Cemetery, Warrnambool, City of Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia AWMM IND PATH 4 006 AWMM
- Ingoa o te urupā
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- Tohutoro kōhatu urupā
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- Pānui Matenga
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- Ingoa maumaharatanga
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- Tohutoro maumaharatanga
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Maumaharatanga
- Ingoa maumaharatanga
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Tangata Ope Tauā
Ngā mātāwai
- Hononga ki waho
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R20543391
Further Reference - Other military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R22269483
Further Reference - White, Georgina. Aghan Brothers. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira. First published: 18 May 2021.
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/features/alfred-aghan
Further Reference - Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954) Thu 8 Jul 1926, Page 8, Wedding
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/137391483
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- Ngā tuhinga
- Nicol, C.G. (1921). The story of two campaigns: Official war history of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment 1914-1919. Auckland, N.Z.: Wilson & Horton.
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
33: 2 - Kennedy, A. (2015). Chinese Anzacs : Australians of Chinese descent in the defence forces 1885-1919 (revised to include New Zealand-born Chinese of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force 1914-1919) (2nd ed). Wellington: New Zealand Chinese Association.
- Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications
Vol. 4: Includes portrait - This record was part of “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 commemorative partnership between Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand, where service stories were shared onboard a dawn flight from Auckland to Sydney.
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