5/889 - Driver

Clifford

GERRARD

Main Body (Army Service Corps)

Timeline


1915

1915

11 December

Enlistment

Auckland Military District

Initial training

Avondale, Auckland

1915

18 December

Transfer to England

S.S. Ruapehu

1916

1916

3 February

Marched in to the Company Training Camp, Falmouth

1916

9 March

Embarked for France

1916

16 March

From the Front

The Company joined the underground warfare in the North of France

Chantecler, Sector of Arras

1916

15 June

Severely reprimanded for obtaining milk from a cow property of a French civilian and ordered to pay the owner 2 francs

1916

16 November

From the Front

The Company began the operations to connect old underground quarries in Arras in order to accommodate thousands of soldiers for an upcoming battle

1917

1917

18 March

Promoted Lance Corporal

1917

9 April

Battle of Arras

British Offensive


From the Front

The Company was employed to rebuild a major road leading to the Front during the battle

Arras-Cambrai Road

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
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

1 March

Regimental Number changed to 5/889A

1918

14 March

Granted leave to United Kingdom

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

3 April

Rejoined the Company

1918

22 June

Selected for temporary Imperial Commission

Embarked for England

1918

22 July

Marched in to NZ Sling Camp, Bulford

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
1919

1919

12 January

Marched in to NZ Expeditionary Force, London

1919

27 January

Promoted 2nd Lieutenant

Posted to Canterbury Regiment

1919

26 February

Marched in to NZ Depot, Larkhill

1919

27 March

Marched in to NZ Brocton Camp, Cannock Chase

1919

6 May

Marched in to NZ Depot, Larkhill

1919

3 July

Transfer to New Zealand

S.S. Mamari

1919

17 September

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 17/0044171, Military Personnel File: Clifford GERRARD - 5/889.
  • Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Online Cenotaph He Toa Taumata Rau: Clifford GERRARD.
  • Nominal Roll of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 1915. New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company, Wellington, Government Printer, 1916, p. 8.

How to cite this page

Anthony BYLEDBAL, “Clifford GERRARD (5/889)”, New Zealand Tunnellers, 2024 (2009). Accessed: 22 December 2024. URL: https://www.nztunnellers.com/roll/details.php?id=308