A military funeral was accorded Trooper William Smellie (of the Twenty-eighth Reinforcements), who was buried in the East Taieri Cemetery on Tuesday. The deceased was a son of Mr William Smellie, and a brother of Lieutenant J. W. Smellie of Mosgiel. He returned to New Zealand some time ago invalided, and died on Sunday. The firing party was supplied from Dunedin, and the official arrangements were controlled by Captain Myers. At the house and at the graveside the Revs. D. Calder and Hopper (chaplains to the forces) conducted the funeral service, while Bro. A. Cameron read the Oddfellows' services. There was a large muster of this lodge, and a large number of returned soldiers joined in the funeral procession. -Otago Daily Times, 14/11/1918.
ABOUT PEOPLE
Mr William McLean Smellie, who succumbed to an attack of septic pneumonia on Sunday last, at Menzies Ferry, was the second son of Mr and Mrs Wm. Smellie, of Mosgiel (and formerly of North Taieri). The deceased, who was a single man 26 years old, followed cheesemaking as an occupation, and as such had been working at Menzies Ferry Dairy Factory since the beginning of the present season. He was a returned soldier, having gone away with the mounted section of the 28th Reinforcements, seeing service in the Palestine campaign, and whence he returned home invalided in July this year, from the effects of wounds in the back, knee, and face received at Gaza. -Southland Times, 16/11/1918.
PEACE CELEBRATIONS (excerpt)
The Revs. D. Calder, O. Burnett, S. J. Cooper, and Captain Girling also made short speeches. Each referred to the fallen — the funeral of one of these (Private William Smellie) would take place that day — and asked all to remember the price that had been paid for victory. The care of the returned men should be taken up by everyone. As long as life lasted the boys should never be allowed to want in things material or in friendship. -Otago Daily Times, 13/11/1918.
William Smellie was a cheesemaker for the Taieri and Peninsula Comapnty when he enlisted in March, 1917. He had been rejected for service previously due to curvature of the spine but his medical description describes his condition as "slight spinal curvature of no importance." By September of 1917 he was in the Auckland Squadron of the NZ Mounted Rifles.
He was wounded in action at Gaza on November 5th, one of five casualties on that day in what became known as the Third Battle of Gaza. The Official History of the Auckland Mounted Rifles describes the day:
How the tide of battle rolled on, crumpling the Turkish left, and within a few days carrying the whole of the line from Gaza to Beersheba, has been related in other histories. During these wonderfully successful operations the New Zealanders were used in pressing the left flank of the enemy. After spending a night and day in consolidating the Saba position, which was shelled and bombed from the air, the A.M.R. sent forward the 3rd and 11th squadrons to take a turn of duty on the outpost line. The water trouble now began to reach the severe stage. So far the horses had been watered in surface pools in the Wadi Saba, but this supply soon gave out. The men had by now consumed their iron rations, but their greatest concern was for their horses, which had carried them so far and endured so nobly. On November 2, the W.M.R. and the C.M.R., which had been engaged with a force of 400 cavalry to the north-west of Kh El Ras, and the 4th squadron of the A.M.R., moved to Bir Imshash and took up an outpost line facing east and covering the wells in that locality, the other two squadrons of the A.M.R. arriving that evening. In this area some dozen wells were located, but they contained only a few inches of muddy water, and this had to be drawn up in buckets, which were filled by men who descended. It can be readily imagined how slow a process this method of watering was, but when everything possible had been done the thirst of the poor animals was only stimulated. During the next few days the Regiment, when not out on the outpost line, was ranging the countryside in search for a little water. On the 4th, the brigade was rushed to the Wadi El Sultan to support yeomanry who had come into action. This day neither the men nor the horses had any water. The following day the C.M.R. and the Waikatos pushed forward their line some 800 yards, and were heavily shelled. A counter-attack was attempted against the left of the C.M.R., and the 3rd squadron of the A.M.R. was ordered to support, but the attack was repulsed. During the day, water for the men was brought up on pack horses, but there was none for the horses, which by midnight had been without a drink for 48 hours. The "Camels" were due to relieve the mounted rifles, but as they did not materialise, it was decided to lead the horses to Beersheba, 14 miles distant, to get a drink. This day the Regiment lost one man killed and four wounded, but the C.M.R. suffered heavily.
The note on William's records describing his wounds at the end of 1917, in the abbreviated army terms, says "gsw, face wrist and knee." Two months later he is reported as "progress satisfactory" in a hospital in Alexandria. He left Egypt for New Zealand on the HS Ulysses on February 15, 1918, one of 88 men returning home to recover from the war.
BACK FROM THE WAR.
ANOTHER CONTINGENT ARRIVES.
WELLINGTON, March 25. A draft of returned soldiers, comprising seven officers and 81 other ranks, from Egypt and Palestine, arrived to-day. Captain Hine, M.P., was among the number. A small detachment of returned men, seven in number, arrived in Dunedin by the express on the 26th ult. from Wellington. The majority were met by their friends and relatives, and went straight to their homes. The others were taken in charge by Captain Dobson, of the Defence staff, and were placed in motor cars for conveyance to their destinations. The names of the men are as follow: — Trooper T. Miles (Dunedin), Sergeant N. Rape (Dunedin), Trooper J. Bull (Invercargill), Trooper Couper (Fairfield), Trooper J. Fleming (Green Island), Trooper W. Smellie (Mosgiel), Trooper Johnston (Papakaio). -Otago Witness, 3/4/1918.
William Smellie was discharged from the army on July 26, 1918 as unfit for service due to his wounds. He went back to cheesemaking at Menzies Ferry, near Wyndham in northern Southland. There he died from "septic pneumonia" - my guess is that it was a complication of Spanish influenza. William would be merely one of the many men who returned to start life anew and whose future was cut short by the epidemic.
FOR THE EMPIRE'S CAUSE
IN MEMORIAM
SMELLIE — In sad but loving memory of my dear friend, Trooper William McLean Smellie, who passed away at Menzies Ferry on November 10, 1918.
Time may heal the broken-hearted, Time may make the wound less sore,
But time can never stop the longing, For the dear one gone before.
In my heart your memory lingers Sweetly, tender, fond, and true;
In my life there's not a day, When I do not think of you.
— Inserted by his loving friend, D. McEwan. -Otago Witness, 11/11/1919.
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| East Taieri Cemetery. |
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