37616 - Sapper

William

GENTLEMUN

4th Reinforcements

Timeline


1916

1916

4 October

Enlistment

Canterbury Military District

1917

1917

4 January

Initial training

Narrow Neck, Auckland

1917

16 February

Transfer to England

HMNZT 76 - Aparima

1917

3 March

Admitted to hospital at sea with scarlet fever

1917

20 March

Returned to duty

1917

2 May

Marched in to NZ Depot, Christchurch

1917

5 May

From the Front

The Company moved to Monchy, ten kilometres east of Arras, to work on the fortification of the new front line

The Billets in Monchy

1917

3 July

Embarked for France

1917

5 July

Marched in to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

1917

13 July

Joined the Company

1917

27 November

Missing when repairing a bridge on the Cambrai Road crossing of the Canal du Nord

1917

14 December

Reported Prisoner of War in Internment Camp, Minden

1918

From the Front

The Company was still carrying out the digging of underground premises and defences on the Front near Arras

The Workshop in Arras

1918

21 March

Spring Offensive

German Attacks


From the Front

The Company was engaged in the defence of Arras by digging new trenches and dug-outs under constant enemy shellfire

1918

17 April

Reported in Internment Camp, Munster

1918

28 May

Reported in Internment Camp, Friedrichsfeld

1918

8 August

100 Days Offensive

Allied Attacks

1918

27 September

From the Front

The Company experienced its newly reconversion in bridge construction

In front of the Havrincourt Bridge

1918

11 November

Armistice

Cessation of Hostilities


From the Front

The Company continued to build bridges to reconnect a fragmented territory

Over the Sambre River, Maubeuge

1918

28 November

Released from detention

1918

29 November

Marched in to NZ Expeditionary Force Headquarters, London

Granted leave

1918

29 December

Marched in to NZ Depot, Codford

1919

1919

5 January

Marched in to NZ Depot, Torquay

1919

12 March

Transfer to New Zealand

S.S. Corinthic

1919

11 June

Final discharge

End of Service

Decoration

British War Medal
British War Medal

Victory Medal
Victory Medal

Sources and bibliography

  • Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, AABK 18805 W5539 16/0044052, Military Personnel File: William GENTLEMUN - 37616.
  • Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Online Cenotaph He Toa Taumata Rau: William GENTLEMUN.
  • Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Wellington, Government Printer, 1914-1919, Volume III, Roll N°55, p. 39.

How to cite this page

Anthony BYLEDBAL, “William GENTLEMUN (37616)”, New Zealand Tunnellers, 2024 (2009). Accessed: 28 March 2024. URL: https://www.nztunnellers.com/roll/details.php?id=303