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Cenotaph record

Lewis Thomas McIlraith

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Williams, Edward Gordon, photographer. McIlraith on Rasper. Toby Nolan's old horse. Rasper won the Reg. jumping for troop horses at Sarapium 1916 ridden by Phil Sheratt. Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, [Williams Album 4] PH-ALB-213-p25-2. Image has no known copyright restrictions.

Williams, Edward Gordon, photographer. McIlraith on Rasper. Toby Nolan's old horse. Rasper won the R …

Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Lewis Thomas AWMM
  • Surname
    McIlraith AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
    Lewis Thomas McIlwraith AWMM
  • Service number
    • WWI 11/1185 AWMM
    • WWII 817187 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 Martinborough, New Zealand AWMM
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    • Robert McIlraith (father), Southbridge, Canterbury, New Zealand AWMM
    • R. McIlwraith (father), Southbridge, Canterbury, New Zealand AWMM
  • Relationship status
    Pre 13 June 1915 AWMM Single AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Military decorations

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    WW1 13 June 1915 AWMM Labourer/Civilian 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

Last known rank

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  • Last rank

Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • Moeraki then transfer to Port Sydney at Sydney for Suez. SuppNom: Ex 5th Reinforcements. AWMM
    • Lewis Thomas McILRAITH

      25 January 1889 - 13 June 1960

      Lewis McIlraith was the second youngest child in a family of twelve of Robert McIlraith and Sarah McClure, both of whom were born in Killinchy, Co Down, Northern Ireland.

      The youngest of seven sons he was born at the family home “Brooklands” Southbridge. Although he was born in January his official birthdate is 6 February 1889. It is believed that is the date his father registered his birth.

      As there are no records it is not clear whether he attended Sedgmere or Southbridge Primary School. Later he spent 3 years at Southbridge District High School. He rode to school but later when his youngest sister Gertrude began school he drove her to school in a gig

      After leaving school it is believed he worked on the family farm but as there were seven boys in the family he moved up to the North Island before World War I.

      War was declared and at the time he enlisted in 1915 he was working out of Martinborough putting in telephone poles for the Featherston County Council. He joined the Wellington Mounted Rifles and was attested on 25 February at Trentham where he trained for four months. He was a Trooper with the number 11/1185

      He left NZ on 12 June 1915 on HMNZ Troop ship No 25 SS Tahiti and arrived at Suez on 1 August 1915. He went to Gallipoli with the Reinforcements. He contracted typhoid and was invalided to the NZ General Hospital in Cairo on 21 September 1915. He was invalided home boarding HMNZ hospital ship SS Maheno on 28 November 1915. He arrived back in NZ on 1 January 1916 and was discharged on 21 June 1916,

      After his discharge he returned to the North Island where he worked for Sir William Perry of Penrose and is believed to have driven the first tractor in Wairarapa.

      Lewis re-enlisted in the Wellington Mounted Rifles and was attested at Wellington on 7 February 1917 and arrived at Featherston Camp two days later. He left Wellington on HMNZ Troop Ship SS Moeraki on 19 April 1917 for Sydney which he left on 9 May 1917 on SS Port Sydney arriving at Suez on 20 June 1917 and was posted to the Wellington Mounted Rifles Training Unit. He joined the unit in the field in Egypt on 1 August.
      At one time he was a dispatch rider. Attached to his record at the Online Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum there is a photo with the inscription “McIlraith on Rasper Toby Nolan’s old horse. Rasper won the Regimental jumping for troop horses at Sarapium 1916 ridden by Phil Sheratt” On his own copy of the photo Lewis has written “A photo of myself taken when I was a brigade messenger.”

      He was wounded in action - gunshot wounds to the shoulder and back on 30 March 1918 and spent time in hospitals at El Arish, Kantara, Abbassia and Heliopolis
      He rejoined his unit on 30 June 1918 and served in Palestine. He contracted malaria and was in hospital in Jerusalem from 28 August until 7 September. He returned to hospital on 5 October and a convalescent camp in Ismailia until 25 October 1918 rejoining his unit on 8 November. On one of these occasions he was invalided out on a camel. The war ended three days later.

      He was detached to Baggage Gurad (?), at Rafa on 17 March 1919 and left Port Said for the United Kingdom for leave on 23 May 1919. He left from Plymouth 0n 29 July on HMNS Troop Ship No 280 on 28 July and arrived in NZ on 20 September, and was discharged on 21 October 1919. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

      After the war Lewis returned to Wairarapa and worked for many years as a shepherd on Pirinoa Station during the time that it was being run by Ramsey (Dod) McDougall. He belonged to the Pirinoa Golf Club.

      He met Katherine (Katie) Sutherland and before they married Lewis returned to the South Island and purchased a farm at Dorie near Rakaia in 1934/35. This was mainly a cropping farm.

      Lew and Katie were married on 3 June 1935 at the St John’s Manse in Wellington.
      Their daughter Anne was born on 3 June 1936 at Christchurch Public - Anne - Child - 25 April 2021 - Family records.
    • and their son, Donald Lewis on 12 January 1939 at Rakaia.

      As they decided they preferred sheep farming to cropping they decided to return to Pirinoa and take over the running of Katie’s farm, Kaiwaru. The family sailed for the North Island on Christmas Eve 1940.

      As WWII was now in progress Lewis joined the 5th Independent Rifles and was attested at Masterton on 12 March 1941. As his unit was stationed at Whangaimoana Beach adjacent to Kaiwaru when it was his turn for guard duty he would ride his horse to the beach in the evening and return home during the day for farm work. Lewis was discharged on 1 March 1943 and received the War Medal 1939-45 and the NZ War Service Medal.

      He and Katie continued to farm themselves. Casual workers were only employed for specific tasks such as docking, grubbing gorse. Shearing and fencing was done by outside workers.

      Later when Lewis began to suffer the after effects of typhoid permanent staff were employed. A new house was built in 1953.

      Lew died suddenly at Kaiwaru on 13 June 1960 and is buried in Featherston. Katie died in 1987. Their son Donald together with his son, Andrew continues farming at Kaiwaru.





      Anne Aburn
      June 2009 Public - Anne - Child - 25 April 2021 - Family records
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Death

About death

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  • Death
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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Sources

Sources

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  • External links
    Military Personnel File
    https://collections.archives.govt.nz/en-NZ/web/arena/search#/entity/aims-archive/R24061186
    Further Reference
  • 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: 451 AWMM
    • New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1918). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume III. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer. AWMM
      58:4 AWMM
    • Williams, E. G. (1917-1918). [Williams Album 4]. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tamaki Paenga Hira. PH-ALB-213. AWMM

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25 May 2021AnneFeatherstonChild

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