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Cenotaph record

Andrew Dougall Blair

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Military Portrait of Lieutenant A.D. Blair R.N.R.

Lieutenant A.D. Blair R.N.R.

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Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Andrew Dougall AWMM
  • Surname
    Blair AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
    240/38/782 Public - Harley Robert James - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Military Service Record 240/38/782 from National Archives U.K.
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    1872 Tauranga Memories Otago, New Zealand Tauranga Memories
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
    Mr John Blair (father) Public - Harley - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Assumed
  • Post war occupation
    • He worked for Antonin Besse operating out of Aden. Public - Harley Robert James - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Family papers
    • Between 1928 and 1934, trading between Singapore and Christmas Island aboard the Islander. Public - Harley - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Family records and photographs
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    Mr John Blair (father) Public - Harley - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Assumed
  • Relationship status
    Single until 5 September 1915 (married Lillian Patricia Edith Harvey) Public - Harley - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Marriage Certificate

Service

Wars and conflicts

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  • War
    World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
  • Campaign
    Mine Sweeping (Dec 31 1914 - May 1917), Easter Rising (1916), Q-Ship (Q.17, June-Oct 1916), Public - Harley Robert James - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Military Service Record 240/38/782 from National Archives U.K.
  • Armed force / branch
  • Service number
    240/38/782 Public - Harley Robert James - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Military Service Record 240/38/782 from National Archives U.K.
  • Military service
    • Royal Naval Reserve AWMM
      RNR AWMM
    • Special Service Public - Harley Robert James - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Military Service Record 240/38/782 from National Archives U.K.
    • Principal Naval Transport Officer (France) and for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) Public - Harley Robert James - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Service Record 240/38/782 from National Archives U.K and Family photograph album belonging to A.D. Blair
  • Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers

Military decorations

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  • Medals and Awards
    • Order of the Medjidie, Fourth Class Order (Gold) (Ottoman Empire) AWMM
      Jul 1911 AWMM
      Captain A. D. Blair, son of Mr John Blair, Abbotsford, has received from the Turkish Government the decoration of the fourth order of Medjidie. The order was instituted in 1852, and conferred after the Crimean war to a considerable extent on British officers. The service rendered by Captain Blair was the following: On July last he took in his ship 1000 Turkish troops with guns, etc, from Kamaran to a place called Loheiza, which was surrounded by Bedouins, who had captured the wells, and the Turkish, garrison were dying with thirst. Captain Blair happened to have 100 tons of fresh water ballast in his tanks and with the aid of the condenser augmented this supply, which he landed with the reinforcements. For five days he supplied the troops with water, when the wells were recaptured, and thus earned the gratitude of the Turks. (Source: Poverty Bay Herald Volume xxxix, issue 12708, 11 March 1912, p2.) AWMM
    • 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal Public - Harley Robert James - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Family Archive

Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
    • Apr 1897 AWMM
      Certificate of Competency in April 1897 AWMM
    • 1900-1903 AWMM
      Certificate of Competency as Master of a Foreign-going Ship, a Merchant Navy Master AWMM
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    WW1 10 December 1914 Tauranga Memories
    Age 41 AWMM
    Temporary Lieutenant Tauranga Memories Royal Navy Tauranga Memories
  • Occupation before enlistment
    Merchant Seaman (Captain) for the Cunard Line in the Middle East. Public - Harley Robert James - Other Relative - 29 April 2015 - Family papers
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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  • Embarkation details

Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes

Last known rank

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Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • Reported as New Zealander serving in RN Press 20 February 1915 -reported as serving in RNR in September 1918 AWMM
    • As a teen trained under sail and steam. Worked commercially around Red Sea based in Aden. Assisted Ottomans against Italy, awarded Order of Medjidie 4th Order (1911) for rescuing troops. Volunteered 1914, mine sweeping on converted fishing trawlers. Married 1915. Irish Easter Rising April 1916, secured munitions factory. Placed into special service in command of W.E Sanders with Q-Ship 17. Principal Transport Officer for the B.O.A.R (1918). Commercial work in the Middle East again after the War. Trading between Singapore and Christmas Island (1928-1934). Public - Harley - Direct descendant - 12 July 2018 - Personal family records and photographs. Military record. Full account http://clayjars.5gbfree.com/adblair/adblair.html
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    1955 Tauranga Memories
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name

Roll of Honour

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Sources

Sources

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Contributors

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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
08 June 2021KeithLondonResearcher
12 July 2018HarleyNew ZealandDirect descendant
29 April 2015Harley Robert JamesTaurangaOther Relative

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