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Cenotaph record

Richard Patrick Butler

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Portrait, Auckland Weekly News 1917 - No known copyright restrictions

Portrait, Auckland Weekly News 1917 - No known copyright restrictions

Identity

About

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  • 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

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
    Unknown AWMM Care of Mr Purser, Raetihi, New Zealand AWMM
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    J. Butler (father), Papakura, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
  • Relationship status
    Pre 14 February 1915 AWMM Single AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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  • War
    World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
  • Campaign
  • Armed force / branch
    Army AWMM
  • Service number
    WWI 10/1429 AWMM
  • Military service
  • Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers

Military decorations

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    WW1 Unknown AWMM AWMM
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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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
    Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM

Last known rank

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Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • Remembered on the Papakura - Karaka War Memorial 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
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    1 October 1916 AWMM
    Somme, Northern France AWMM
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
    Killed in Action AWMM
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name
    • Papakura - Karaka War Memorial, Great South Road, Papakura, New Zealand AWMM
    • Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 1 Hall of Memories AWMM

Roll of Honour

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Related Serviceperson

Sources

Sources

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  • External links
  • References
    • New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer. AWMM
      Page No: 99 AWMM
    • Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications AWMM
      Vol. 3: Includes portrait AWMM
    • The Fields of Remembrance Trust: Brothers Field, Auckland Museum (Armistice, 2018) AWMM
    • Roll of Honour, Auckland Province (digital copy), 1914 - 1919. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2016-2. AWMM

Contributors

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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
30 April 2023Ian BanksTaumarunui New ZealandResearcher
25 April 2022Toni Auckland, New ZealandResearcher

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