9/401 Trooper James Wallace, 21/10/1890-22/11/1918.

James Wallace joined the army shortly after the declaration of war in 1914.  He joined the Otago Mounted Rifles and embarked with them for the Dardanelles in May, 1915.  Two months later he was in a field hospital, suffering from "varicocele."  This is a condition new to me and research disclosed that it is like having a varicose vein in the scrotum. Not fatal, but not conducive to military heroics.  He was treated in the military hospital on the island of Mudros and was back with his unit at the end of the year.

Back in Egypt, his condition asserted itself again and he was in hospital in March, 1916.  His name was on the draft for a return to New Zealand early in 1917.

In February, 1917, James was discharged, the reason given being due to a pre-enlistment condition which had been aggravated by war service.  He was struck with Spanish influenza in November, 1918 and died in Dunedin Hospital.

Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.  DCC photo.