Bertram James Hawkins was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 17th July 1886 and he was the son of Alfred George Hawkins and Mary Adelaide Merson. Bert went to New Zealand sometime before 1911 and he was working as a farm labourer in the Hawkes Bay area. He enlisted with the New Zealand Field Artillery on 2nd February 1915 and he embarked from Wellington for Egypt with the 4th reinforcements on 17th April. Bert joined 5th Battery in camp at Moascar on 15th January 1916, and on 7th April he embarked with his battery for France where they disembarked at Marseilles. They boarded trains to the quite sector of the line at Armentieres and the New Zealand Division settled into life on the Western Front. Bert proceeded into the Somme battlefields later that year and he took part in the first major battle that the ANZAC Corps were involved in. He was appointed an acting Bombardier on 13th March 1917 and he remained continually at the front till he was granted leave to the United Kingdom on 14th November. He rejoined the battery on 2nd December and he was promoted to the rank of Bombardier on 11th December. On 2nd February 1918 he was attached to the New Zealand Field Artillery Depot at Ewshot, England as an instructor. He embarked for France on 5th April and he marched into the New Zealand Infantry and General Base Depot at Etaples and he joined 4th battery on 11th April. Bert remained in the field till he was detached to the United Kingdom on duty on 6th January 1919 and he report to Sling camp at Salisbury Plain on 11th January. He embarked for New Zealand on 8th March and on his return to Wellington he was discharged from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on 13th May. Bert then travelled to Australia and he was living at his parents’ home at 155 Toorak Road, South Yarra. On his discharge from the NZEF he was found to be medically fit, however he died from sickness on 15th February 1920 and his buried in a Military Grave in the Brighton cemetery in Melbourne. Public - Kerry - Researcher - 30 September 2018 - Service records, newspapers, Ancestry