George Gardiner
Born 1 Feb 1894 - Died 18 May 1941
- Service number
- WWI 16/587 AWMM
- VX38674 AWMM
- V85818 AWMM
- Also known as
- Gardener AWMM
- George AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- WWI: 1st NZ Maori Contingent; WWII: 2/23 Australian Infantry BtnPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 March 2016 - Military Record
- Last rank
- Inter War Second Lieutenant AWMM New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion AWMM
- WW2 Lieutenant/Military AWMM Australian Imperial Force, 2/23 Infantry Battalion AWMM
- War
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- George AWMM
- Surname
- Gardiner AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- Gardener AWMM
- George AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 16/587 AWMM
- VX38674 AWMM
- V85818 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM
- Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngā Iwi o Ara Tāwhao, Ara Tāwhao, Waka o Ngā Iwi, Ngā Iwi, Māori AWMM
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 1 Feb 1894 AWMM
- Date of birth
- —
- Place of birth
- —
- Birth notes
- Son of Karehana and Rewa Gardiner, of TaurangaPublic - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 9 July 2024 - https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/george%C2%A0-gardiner
- Address before enlistment
- Pre 06 Feb 1915 AWMM Tauranga, New Zealand AWMM
- Pre 22 Aug 1940 AWMM Albury Camp, Royal Park, Victoria, Australia AWMM
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- Karehana Gardener (father), Tauranga, New Zealand AWMM
- Callaghan Gardiner (father), Tauranga, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- Pre 14 Feb 1915 AWMM Single/WWI AWMM
- Pre 01 Nov 1940 AWMM Married/WWII AWMM
- Husband of Mary Gardiner.Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 9 July 2024 - https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/george%C2%A0-gardiner
Wars and conflicts
- War
- Campaign
- 1915-1916 AWMM Gallipoli AWMM
- France and Germany (TBC) AWMM
- Western Desert AWMM
- 1914-1916 AWMM Egypt AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- WWI: 1st NZ Maori Contingent; WWII: 2/23 Australian Infantry BtnPublic - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 March 2016 - Military Record
- Service number
- WWI 16/587 AWMM
- VX38674 AWMM
- V85818 AWMM
- Military service
- Tauranga Cadets AWMM
- WWI: 1915-1919; WWII: 1940-1941Public - Lorraine M - Researcher - 26 March 2016 - Military Record
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
- 1914-1915 Star AWMM
- British War Medal (1914-1920) AWMM
- Victory Medal AWMM
- Cross of Karageorge, 1st Class with Swords (Serbia) AWMM
Citation: "For distinguished services rendered during the course of the campaign." (London Gazette, 15 February 1917, p. 1609) AWMM - ANZAC Commemorative Medallion AWMM
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- WW1 06 Feb 1915 AWMM
Age 21 AWMM
Engineer (Mechanical)/Civilian AWMM - WW2 22 Aug 1940 AWMM
Age 36 AWMM
Farmer/Civilian AWMM
- WW1 06 Feb 1915 AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
- —
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 14 Feb 1915-26 Mar 1915 AWMM
HMNZT 20 AWMM Vessel was Warrimoo AWMM Private AWMM A Company AWMM Not known AWMM - WW2 Vessel was Strathmore AWMM Lieutenant/Military AWMM 2/23rd Infantry Battalion AWMM Second Australian Imperial Force AWMM
2nd Embarkation AWMM
- WW1 14 Feb 1915-26 Mar 1915 AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- —
- Days interned
- —
- Liberation date
- —
- POW liberation details
- —
- Liberation Repatriation
- —
- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Height, Unknown Period AWMM
5 feet 10 1/2 inches AWMM - Weight, Unknown Period AWMM
13 stone AWMM - Other, Unknown Period AWMM
cataract left eye AWMM - Died of wounds, Cause of Death AWMM
peritonitis AWMM
- Height, Unknown Period AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- Inter War 4 May 1919 AWMM Second Lieutenant AWMM
New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion AWMM - WW2 Lieutenant/Military AWMM
Australian Imperial Force, 2/23 Infantry Battalion AWMM
- Inter War 4 May 1919 AWMM Second Lieutenant AWMM
- Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- George Gardiner was the son of Karehana and Rewa Gardiner of Tauranga. He married Mary Gardiner, and their son Darcy Herbert Gardiner (800706) later served during World War II.
Gardiner served with the New Zealand forces during World War I, including service with the Māori (Pioneer) Battalion. He was promoted from the ranks to Second Lieutenant on 29 February 1918 and later served as Quartermaster of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles (Studholme, 1928).
After the war Gardiner became prominent in Rugby League. He came to Auckland from the Bay of Plenty in 1924, having previously played Rugby as a forward and three-quarter. He joined the Marist Rugby League Club, transferring to Ponsonby in 1926. A powerful player who stood over six feet tall and weighed around 16 stone, Gardiner could play on the wing or in the back row and was also a capable goal kicker. He was noted for his speed and athleticism and was also a successful runner and high jumper.
Gardiner was selected for the New Zealand Rugby League team that toured England and France in 1926–27. During the opening match against Dewsbury he led the New Zealand team in the haka and was described as a strong-running wing who handled and kicked well. In Auckland club football he became an important member of Ponsonby’s forward pack.
Gardiner later moved to Australia and took up professional wrestling under the name Hori Tiki, also being reported as Toa Kaha. His first professional contest was arranged against noted wrestler Ike Robin at Hastings in July 1932. He subsequently wrestled a number of prominent overseas and Australian opponents.
During World War II Gardiner enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1940 and attained the rank of Lieutenant. He was reported missing, believed to be a prisoner of war, before it was established that he had died in 1941. He suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and died from acute peritonitis. He was buried on 18 May 1941 near Derna, on the road to Tobruk. His death was subsequently reported in New Zealand, where his sporting career in both Rugby League and wrestling was remembered.
There is some uncertainty over Gardiner’s date of birth. His New Zealand Army enlistment records give 1 February 1894, while his second Australian Army enlistment gives 3 August 1903. New Zealand birth indexes do not appear to record a corresponding birth in 1894 but do record one in 1902. His exact date and age at death therefore require further research. AWMM
About death
- Death
- 18 May 1941 AWMM
- Date of death
- —
- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Died of wounds AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma, Libya AWMM 15.F.4. AWMM
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- —
- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- —
Related Serviceperson
Sources
- External links
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R16784866
Further Reference - New Zealand Electronic Text Collection topic page
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-130980.html
Further Reference - Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand History online. Awapuni Race Course Memorial, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/memorial/awapuni-war-memorial
Further Reference - National Archives of Australia. Military Service Record.
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=6225444
Further Reference - Australian War Memorial. War History, units- 2/23rd Battalion.
http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11274.asp
Further Reference - Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20201108000000/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-CowMaor.html
Further Reference - News Brevities, Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 85, Issue 198, 7 May 1942, Page 4
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBHETR19420507.2.96
Further Reference - N.Z LEAGUE PLAYER KILLED IN ACTION, Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 223, 20 September 1941, Page 5 (Supplement)
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19410920.2.180.51?
Further Reference - George Gardiner (rugby league), Wikipedia record
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gardiner_(rugby_league)
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- References
- Pugsley, C. (1995). Te Hokowhitu a Tu : the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the first World War. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed.
- Studholme, J. (1928). New Zealand Expeditionary Force record of personal services during the war of officers, nurses, and first-class warrant officers, and other facts relating to the N.Z.E.F. : unofficial but based on official records. Wellington, N.Z.: Government Printer.
p. 124. - New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
Vol1: 254 - McDonald, W. (2001). Honours and awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1918. Napier, N.Z.: Helen McDonald.
p. 112. - Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
Cowan, J. (1926). p. 173. - Oldham, G. & Delahunt, B. (1991). Orders, Decorations and Medals Awarded to New Zealanders - an illustrated guide for collectors. Auckland, N.Z.: Author.
p. 103 - New Zealand. Army. 1st Maori Contingent. Scroll of the 1st New Zealand Maori Contingent, 1915. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-624.
- 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 - Soutar, M. (2019). Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Maori In the First World War. New Zealand: David Bateman Ltd.
- Information kindly provided by family
- McDonald, W. (2013). Honours and Awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1918. (3rd ed.). Hamilton, N.Z.: Richard Stowers.
- Ross, A. (1959). 23 Battalion. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
- Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
- Waite, F. (1919). The New Zealanders at Gallipoli. Auckland, N.Z.: Printed and published under Authority of the New Zealand Government by Whitcombe & Tombs.
- Coffey, J., & Wood, B. (2008). 100 years : Māori Rugby League, 1908-2008. Wellington, N.Z. : Huia.
The development of the Online Cenotaph is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.
Online Cenotaph Data by Auckland War Memorial Museum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.