Richard Patrick Butler
Died 1 Oct 1916
- Service number
- WWI 10/1429 AWMM
- Also known as
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- WW1 Private AWMM Wellington Infantry Regiment AWMM
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- Richard Patrick AWMM
- Surname
- Butler AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- —
- Service number
- WWI 10/1429 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- —
- Religion
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Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
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- Date of birth
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- Place of birth
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- Birth notes
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- Address before enlistment
- Unknown AWMM Care of Mr Purser, Raetihi, New Zealand AWMM
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- J. Butler (father), Papakura, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- Pre 14 Feb 1915 AWMM Single AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 10/1429 AWMM
- Military service
- —
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
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Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
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Training and Enlistment
- Military training
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- Branch Trade Proficiency
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- Enlistment
- WW1 Unknown AWMM Wellington AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
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Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 14 Feb 1915-26 Mar 1915 AWMM from Wellington AWMM to Suez AWMM
HMNZT 17 or HMNZT 18 or HMNZT 19 AWMM Vessel was Maunganui or Tahiti or Aparima AWMM Private AWMM Wellington Infantry Battalion AWMM 3rd Reinforcements AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
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- Days interned
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- Liberation date
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- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
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- POW serial number
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Medical history
- Medical notes
- Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW1 Private AWMM
Wellington Infantry Regiment AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Remembered on the Papakura - Karaka War Memorial
Next of Kin: Mr J. Butler, Papakura, Auckland (Roll of Honour, Auckland Province 1914-1918 (Volume 1)) AWMM - James Butler travelled from Queens County, Ireland to New Zealand in the 1860’s. Upon arrival he walked to Clevedon and after working there for some time, he took up land at Hunua. James married Annie, who had also come from Ireland to New Zealand in the 1860’s.
Richard Patrick Butler was born at Hunua in 1883.
In 1914 at the time of his enlistment, Richard was single and in his early thirties working as a ‘bush feller’ in Raetihi. He was 5ft 9 ½ inches and weighed 162 lbs with a fair complexion, brown hair and eyes.
Early in 1915 Richard embarked for Suez, Egypt, joining the Wellington Regiment in May to fight at the Dardanelles.
The assault launched on the area in August 1915 followed the unsuccessful Gallipoli campaign in April. It was here that Richard suffered a gunshot wound in the side on the 8th August and was shipped out on the Aquitania, a Cunard liner chartered by the British government as a troop carrier. Admitted to the military hospital in Southampton, England on the 23rd August, he would not return to active duty until March 1916.
In late January 1916 he was discharged from the hospital on furlough; by March 13th he had rejoined the 2nd Battalion in Ismailia. In early April he left Egypt from Alexandria, bound for France on the troop carrier ‘Llandovery Castle’.
Richard was admitted to the New Zealand Field Ambulance on the 6th June, this time with a gunshot wound to the forehead, but after a few days he was discharged back to his unit.
On the first of October 1916, during an advance at the Battle of the Somme near Eaucourt l'Abbaye, Richard was seen to be wounded in the leg by Private Mudgway.
Lance Corporal Colquhoun stated “I was with him at the time and saw him crawl into a shell hole. We had advanced about 300 yards when he was wounded.”
This was the last time Richard was seen alive. He was not reported to have been carried out, and was listed as wounded and missing.
Initially it was thought he was a prisoner of war, but this was later discounted in an enquiry held in January 1917.
“24/1428 Pte Mudgway C L states on the Ist October near Eaucourt L’Abby during the advance and before we got to the objective, I saw Pte Butler RP 10/ 1429 receive a wound. I was some distance off at the time but am certain it was Pte Butler RP”
“10/ 2560 L/Cpl Colquhoun RA states that on the 1st October near Eaucourt L’Abbey during the advance and before we got to objective Pte Butler was wounded in the leg, I was with him at the time and saw him crawl into a shell hole. We had advanced about 300 yards when he was wounded. ….this was the last he saw of Pte Butler and did not hear of him being carried out.”
In April 1917 a court of enquiry officially listed Richard as killed in action on 1st October 1916.Public - Toni - Researcher - 25 April 2022 - Military Personnel Records
OBITUARY. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19652, 2 June 1927, Page 12
- Remembered on the Papakura - Karaka War Memorial
About death
- Death
- 1 Oct 1916 AWMM
Somme AWMM - Date of death
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- Age at death
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- Place of death
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- Cause of death
- Killed in Action AWMM
- Death notes
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- Cemetery
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- Cemetery name
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- Grave reference
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- Obituary
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- Memorial name
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- Memorial reference
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Memorial
- Memorial name
- Papakura - Karaka War Memorial, Great South Road, Papakura, New Zealand AWMM
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 1 Hall of Memories AWMM
Related objects
Related Serviceperson
Sources
- External links
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R21890713
Further Reference - A Street Near You record
https://astreetnearyou.org/person/1462968/-
Further Reference - Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1462968
Further Reference - New Zealand War Graves Trust
https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- References
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
Page No: 99 - 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. 3: Includes portrait - The Fields of Remembrance Trust: Brothers Field, Auckland Museum (Armistice, 2018)
- Roll of Honour, Auckland Province (digital copy), 1914 - 1919. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2016-2.
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
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