Eric Claude Spedding
Born 13 Dec 1895 - Died 7 Oct 1916
- Service number
- WWI 13845 AWMM
- Also known as
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- WW1 Second Lieutenant AWMM Otago Infantry Regiment AWMM
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 13 Dec 1895 AWMM
- Date of birth
- —
- Place of birth
- DunedinPublic - Paul - Researcher - 5 June 2015 - Military Personnel File.
- Birth notes
- Son of Donald McKenzie and Clara (née Cousens) Spedding.Public - Paul - Researcher - 5 June 2015 - NZ Births Deaths and Marriages.
- Address before enlistment
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- Post war occupation
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- Next of kin
- Mrs D.M. Spedding (mother), 14 Park Street, Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- —
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 13845 AWMM
- Military service
- —
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
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Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- WW1 Unknown AWMM Banker/Civilian AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
- Member of staff of Bank of New Zealand, Dunedin. Joined the bank on 20 February 1914.Public - Paul - Researcher - 5 June 2015 - Bank of New Zealand archives.
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 26 Jun 1916-22 Aug 1916 AWMM
HMNZT 56 AWMM Vessel was Maunganui AWMM Second Lieutenant AWMM 14th Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Battalion, D Company AWMM New Zealand Expeditionary Force 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
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Medical history
- Medical notes
- Died of wounds, Cause of Death AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW1 Second Lieutenant AWMM
Otago Infantry Regiment AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Eric Claude Spedding was born in Dunedin on 13 December 1895, the son of Donald McKenzie Spedding and Clara Spedding (née Cousens). He was educated at High Street School and Otago Boys’ High School. A keen sportsman, he represented Otago in junior cricket and was involved in athletics. In February 1914 he joined the Dunedin staff of the Bank of New Zealand.
Spedding enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He embarked from New Zealand on 26 June 1916 aboard HMNZT 56 Maunganui with D Company, 14th Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Battalion, arriving in England in August 1916.
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira holds the Eric Claude Spedding papers (MS-960). The collection includes letters and postcards written by Spedding shortly before he left England, photographs, newspaper clippings and letters of condolence sent to his family after his death. The material was made accessible through Pou Kanohi New Zealand at War.
While at Sling Camp, Spedding wrote reassuringly to his mother about the prospect of active service. On 3 September 1916 he told her not to worry, promising that he would be “as far down in my dug out as possible when any firing is going on”. He discussed the clothing and equipment he had purchased, including a heavy waterproof coat and trench hat, and looked forward to returning with money still in his bank account (MS-960-1).
Two days later he wrote to his brother Ivan and other family members that his company had received orders to proceed to France after less than a fortnight’s training in England. Although he had expected to be frightened by the order, he found himself “impatiently waiting for the chance to get into it”. He declined an offer of sick leave for an injured wrist because he feared missing the departure of his unit (MS-960-2).
Between 11 and 17 September 1916, Spedding sent his mother a series of postcards from Hampton Court and Folkestone. He wrote that he had received his marching orders and remained confident that he would return safely:
“I have a very confident feeling that I shall come through alright and I sincerely hope so for your sake.”
He added, “Please do not worry about me Mother dear, as I shall look after myself” (MS-960-3).
Spedding proceeded to France in September 1916 and joined the Otago Infantry Regiment during the Battle of the Somme. He had been on active service for only a short period when he was severely wounded by shellfire and machine-gun fire. Contemporary accounts reported that he received numerous wounds but remained conscious, cheerful and composed while being evacuated.
Spedding died of his wounds on 7 October 1916, aged 20. Letters sent to his family provide differing details about the hospital in which he died, naming either the Duchess of Westminster’s Hospital at Le Touquet or a military hospital at Étaples. He was buried with full military honours in Étaples Military Cemetery, France.
Lieutenant Alexander Gunn Polson wrote to Spedding’s sister shortly after his burial. He described a cemetery set aside for British servicemen, where Spedding’s grave was marked by a wooden cross bearing his name and regiment. Polson enclosed a flower taken from a wreath placed on the grave by Red Cross nurses (MS-960-6).
Gibson Bishop, who had participated in the same action, wrote that Spedding had initially been reported as suffering from shell shock before the extent of his wounds became known. He remembered him as cheerful while being carried away and wrote:
“The men tell me Eric led them like a Hero.”
He concluded that Spedding had lived “like a gallant Anzac & a gentleman” (MS-960-5).
In January 1917, Spedding’s friend Carl Frederick Waldemar Rasmussen wrote that Spedding had been hit by shrapnel and machine-gun bullets during the Somme advance. Rasmussen reported that he had suffered 44 wounds but none to his face or head. He initially appeared to be recovering before gangrene developed. Rasmussen remembered his friend, known as “Spud”, as bright and cheerful until his death and later visited his grave to pay his respects (MS-960-7).
Spedding was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal. He is commemorated on the Bank of New Zealand memorial to employees who died during World War I and at Southern Cemetery, Dunedin, where his name appears on the family grave.
His brother Dr Ivan Norman Spedding also served during World War I with the New Zealand Medical Corps. The existing Online Cenotaph record states that two half-brothers, Leslie Alan and Arthur Vivian Spedding, were killed at Gallipoli; however, a family contributor has noted that Leslie Alan Spedding was not killed there. That family information should be reviewed before it is retained in the biography. AWMM - Leslie Alan SPEDDING was not killed at Gallipoli. Search his name in this online cenotaph for details.Public - Rod - Other relative - 25 April 2026 - Online Cenotaph
- Eric's brother, Dr Ivan Norman Spedding served with the New Zealand Medical Corps.
Two half brothers, Leslie Alan and Arthur Vivian were killed at Gallipoli.Public - Paul - Researcher - 5 June 2015 - Military Personnel Files for Ivan, Leslie and Arthur.
- Eric Claude Spedding was born in Dunedin on 13 December 1895, the son of Donald McKenzie Spedding and Clara Spedding (née Cousens). He was educated at High Street School and Otago Boys’ High School. A keen sportsman, he represented Otago in junior cricket and was involved in athletics. In February 1914 he joined the Dunedin staff of the Bank of New Zealand.
About death
- Death
- 7 Oct 1916 AWMM
Age 20 AWMM - Date of death
- —
- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Died of wounds AWMM
- Death notes
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- Cemetery
- Southern Cemetery, Dunedin City Council AWMM Block 2P, Plot 99 AWMM
- Cemetery name
- Etaples Military Cemetery, FrancePublic - Paul - Researcher - 17 April 2022 - Family papers
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- —
- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Memorial plaque, Bank of New Zealand (Officers of the BNZ who laid down their lives in the Great War AD 1914-1919), BNZ Arcade, Wellington, New Zealand AWMM
Related objects
Sources
- External links
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R7820124
Further Reference - Other military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R7880911
Further Reference - A Street Near You record
https://astreetnearyou.org/person/498209/-
Further Reference - Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/498209
Further Reference - New Zealand War Graves Trust
https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/
Further Reference - BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Otago Witness, Issue 3274, 13 December 1916, Page 21
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19161213.2.43
Further Reference - Spedding, E. C. (1916, June–October). World War One diary [Typescript photocopy, MS-Papers-10292]. Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.
https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22317088
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- References
- Bank of New Zealand officers who enlisted for military service in the First World War. Research completed by Paul Hickford (2014-2017).
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
34: 12 - Boyack, N. (1989). Behind the lines : the lives of New Zealand soldiers in the First World War. Wellington, N.Z.: Allen & Unwin/Port Nicholson Press.
- Spedding, Eric Claude, 1895-1916. Papers, 1916-1918. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-960.
- 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. 1: Includes portrait - This record was partially compiled from data kindly provided by Allan Steel Cemetery Project (2020)
- HMNZT 56 - The kit-bag : the unofficial record of the following units of the Fourteenth Reinforcements on board the "Maunganui", Troopship 56 -- Cape Town : Printed by Cape Times : 1916.
- Byrne, A. E. Official History of the Otago Regiment, NZEF in the Great War, 1914–1918. Dunedin: J. Wilkie, 1921.
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Online Cenotaph Data by Auckland War Memorial Museum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.