Frederick Charles Zeunert

Born 11 Jan 1882 - Died 1920

Service number: WWI 13/747 AWMM
Also known as: Trenue AWMM
Trenne AWMM
Eunert AWMM
Johann Friedrich Carl Zeunert AWMM
Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Last rank: —
War: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Frederick Charles Zeunert — Trooper Frederick Charles Trenue, Auckland Mounted Rifles, admitted to hospital at Manchester, suffering form enteric fever. Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 5, 6 January 1916. Image has no copyright restrictions.

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Biographical information

Frederick Charles Zeunert, born Johann Friedrich Carl Zeunert, was born at Greenock, South Australia, on 11 January 1881, the son of Johann Gottlieb Zeunert and Anna Lydia Zeunert (née Otto). He later used the name Frederick Charles Trenue, with Trenue formed from the letters of Zeunert in reverse, excluding the letter Z. His name also appears in records as Trenne and Eunert. On his military attestation he stated that he had been born at Christchurch on 11 January 1882.

Before World War I, Zeunert worked as a carpenter and lived at Castlebar on Symonds Street, Auckland. He named his friend Henry “Harry” Gibbons Gillespie of Auckland as his next of kin.

Zeunert enlisted under the name Frederick Charles Trenue on 20 October 1914 and embarked as Trooper 13/747 with the 2nd Reinforcements, Auckland Mounted Rifles, on 14 December 1914. He served in Egypt and at Gallipoli.

At Gallipoli he experienced several narrow escapes and received minor wounds from shell fragments. He later recalled having his hat shot off, being struck across the cheek by a bullet and having another bullet remove the hair from one eyebrow. He fought through the major August offensive, during which many of the men with whom he had shared a tent were killed or severely wounded. Writing later, he described Gallipoli as “Hell on Earth”, although he also remembered the Ottoman soldiers as courageous and disciplined opponents.

Zeunert developed severe dysentery in the trenches, followed by enteric fever. He was evacuated through Malta and transferred to England, suffering a serious relapse during the voyage. The illness caused swelling, pain and temporary paralysis along the left side of his body. By January 1916 he had only recently left his bed and was recovering at St John Auxiliary Hospital, Somerford Park, near Congleton in Cheshire.

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira holds a letter written by Zeunert to his friend Harry Gillespie on 12 January 1916 (Frederick Charles Trenue – Letter to “Gill”, MS-1570). In the letter he described the Gallipoli landings, the fighting of May and August 1915, the loss of his comrades, his illnesses and evacuation, and his recovery in England. The letter was made accessible through Pou Kanohi New Zealand at War.

Following his recovery, Zeunert appears to have served briefly with the New Zealand Medical Corps before transferring to the Auckland Infantry Regiment. He attained the rank of sergeant and completed five years and 165 days of service. He was discharged on 2 April 1920 because of illness contracted on active service.

After returning to New Zealand, Zeunert resumed work as a carpenter and was employed at the Hicks Bay freezing works. On Sunday, 31 October 1920, he went fishing with four companions from rocks near Matakaoa Point. He was later missed, and when the party returned home they found that he had not arrived. More than 100 men from the freezing works searched the coast and nearby hills the following morning, but found only his fishing line still in the water. The sea near the point was described as treacherous, and Zeunert was presumed to have been washed from the rocks and drowned. He was unmarried, and contemporary reports noted that his mother was believed to be living in Adelaide. AWMM

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Frederick Charles Zeunert