Glenledi is not a town or a village. It is a location on the road from the Milton area to the coast, south of Dunedin. Where the sealed road becomes gravel is the cenotaph for the area.
The five names on the cenotaph's plaque indicate five disasters for four families. The Brown family sent four of their sons to the army. Two returned.
72316 Private James Brown 22/10/1897-23/10/1918.
James Brown was called up on the 7th of November, 1917. He arrived in Britain halfway through 1918 and in France in August of 1918. On September 16 he was with the 1st Battalion of the Otago Infantry Regiment and lasted a little over one month before he was killed in action. The period in which he joined the Otagos was a busy one, with many casualties. The Allied armies were advancing after the failed German Spring Offensive and the Germans were desperate to stave off defeat.
When soldiers are killed in action, it is usually those three words and nothing else which can be found on their army records. This is the case with James, so there is no indication as to how he was killed.
To find the circumstances of his death, the Official History of the Otago Infantry Regiment would usually be helpful - but not in this case. James died in a quieter period between the house-to-house fighting in the French town of Bapaume and the liberation of Le Quesnoy in November, which was the Otagos' last action. Interesting, however is this German assessment of the Otagos: "A particularly good assault Division. Its characteristic is a very strongly developed individual selfconfidence or enterprise typical of the Colonial Englishman, and a specially pronounced hatred of the Germans. A captured officer taken at the end of April did not hesitate to boast of this while in the prisoners' cage."
James Brown's parents saw four of their sons off to the war. Two returned.
63287 Private John Brown 14/2/1888-30/9/1918.
John Brown was the brother of James (above) and was a railways signalman at Taumaranui when he was called up, just over a year before James. He also died earlier than his brother, by just over one month.
Probably due to his location when he joined the army, John was enlisted in the Wellington Regiment.
On the morning of September 29, 1918, John's Regiment was detailed to attack a position known as Welsh Ridge. If the attack was successful, John's Battalion, the 1st, was to follow up. The attack was a successful one.
On the 30th, the 1st Battalion attacked further across the St Quentin canal but was repulsed by a well-organised defence. John was one of those lost in the attempt, which was later successful.
The Call of Empire
Killed. BROWN, JOHN, Wellington Infantry (Mr A. Brown, Raurekau, father), Private Brown was previously reported wounded, but is now reported as having been killed in action on Sept. 30th. Private Brown was the second son of Mr and Mrs Alex. Brown, of Akatore. He was born in that district, and educated at the Akatore School. After leaving school he followed agricultural pursuits in the Lovells Flat district for a number of years. Subsequently he joined the N.Z. Railway, serving as a porter at Dunedin and other stations, until transferred on promotion as signalman to Taumaranui, where he joined the 33rd Reinforcements, being later transferred to the 32nd Reinforcements, with which he sailed. -Bruce Herald, 17/10/1918.
53376 Private David Miller Marshall 19/2/1879-8/12/1917.
David Marshall came from Akatore and was an engine driver when he joined the army in March, 1917. He was enlisted in the NZ Rifle Brigade and was in France by the end of the year.
In November of 1917 he was detached to the 2nd Field Company of the NZ Engineers in the Ypres area - a region which had been blasted by artillery for most of the war. It was much in need of the services provided by the Engineers; trenches and tunnels dug, barbed wire put up, walkways built behind the lines, platforms and shell dumps for the artillery, shelters prepared for headquarters and attacking troops. Equally vital was drainage of the trench system. The Ypres area had originally been marshland, transformed into farmland by centuries of hard work. That work had been undone by artillery and high explosive.
The Engineers' work was done by day or night, depending on which time was safer. Much was done under the eyes and guns of the German army across No-man's-land. No particular action is recorded in the Official History of the NZ Engineers in the day of David's death, so it is possible that he was killed by an artillery burst or a sniper from the "other side."
58695 Private Frederick Hugh Russell 11/5/1894-1/2/1918.
Frederick Hugh Russell was called up in March of 1917 and appealed against it on the grounds of public interest and undue hardship. He was the sole help for his father on the family farm.
MILITARY SERVICE BOARDS
SITTING AT MILTON. [From Our Own Reporter.]
MILTON, April 17. The Second Otago Military Service Board — Messrs Day, S.M. (chairman), Orbell, and Breen — sat here this morning to hear eight appeals from the ballot. Captain E. D. Mosley was the military representative.
Frederick Hugh Russell, farmer, Glenledi, also based his appeal on both grounds. (Mr Rutherford appearing in support of it). — Appellant said that he and his father were partners in working a farm of 753 acres. He had no brother or sister. To Captain Mosley: There was no written partnership. The farm was freehold and had no mortgage. — Hugh Russell (the appellant's father) said he had bought threshing and haulage plants within the last few months. — Mr Rutherford said the Minister of Agriculture had urged farmers to grow grain and had promised them liberal treatment. — Captain Mosley said the boards had frequent applications from retired farmers willing to manage farms. — The Chairman said that apparently witness had done nothing in view of the calling up of his son. The appeal would be dismissed, but appellant would not be called up before June 14. The board declined to refer the matter to the Efficiency Board, saying that appellant could do so if he wished. -Evening Star, 17/4/1917.
MILITARY SERVICE BOARD
SITTING AT MILTON
The board sat at Milton in the afternoon and heard 12 appeals.
Frederick Hugh Russell (Milton) applied for leave from camp in order to assist in shearing operations and to complete other work which had fallen into arrear on the farm. — Mr Rutherford said that two months' leave were required. — Captain Free said if it could be ascertained that the company to which the man belonged was leaving New Zealand shortly he would have to oppose the application. — Held over, pending advice when the company was leaving for the front, a recommendation to be made that he be granted leave until January. -Otago Daily Times, 9/11/1917.
Frederick got as far as Britain at the end of 1917. He was admitted to Tidworth Military Hospital on January 25, 1918, with scarlet fever and died on February the fifth.
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| The Russell house, near Bull Creek. |
PRIVATE F. RUSSELL.
Mr and Mrs Hugh Russell, of Glenledi, have received notification from the Defence authorities that their only son, Private Frederick Hugh Russell, died at the Tidworth Military Hospital, England, on February 1st, from an attack of scarlet fever. The deceased soldier departed with the 32nd Reinforcements, in which he was attached to the Specialist Company, and they sailed from New Zealand on the 21st Novr., 1917. He worked on his father's farming property at Glenledi prior to enlistment. Private Russell was of a quiet and unassuming disposition, and universally esteemed. Behind his retiring nature was a studious character, and he had unsuspected talents in different hobbies, which he pursued in his leisure hours; principal amongst these was a knowledge of chemistry and mechanics, for the pursuit of which he had erected a small laboratory and workshop. The deceased soldier was about 26 years of age. -Bruce Herald, 7/2/1918.
Frederick's father, Hugh Russell, sold the farm shortly after Frederick's death and retired to Dunedin, where he died in 1924, aged 67. His mother, Agnes, lived until 1939.
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| Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin. DCC photo. |
FOR THE EMPIRE’S CAUSE.
IN MEMORIAM.
RUSSELL. — In loving remembrance of Frederick Hugh Russell, beloved only son of Hugh and Agnes Russell (late of Glenledi). “Gone, but not forgotten.” -Otago Daily Times, 1/2/1923.
8/3075 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Charles Smith 28/2/1890-26/8/1918.
Oscar Smith was a sole-charge school teacher at Ida Valley, in Central Otago, when he volunteered for the army in June, 1915. He was the son of a teacher and headmaster who taught in the Stirling-Kaitangata region.
He was enlisted in the Otago Infantry Regiment and was selected for Officer's training in 1917. In August, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, he was transferred to the NZ Machine Gun Corps. Over the winter of 1917-1918 he underwent special training and spent some time sick in hospital. He was back with the Corps in June 1918.
Oscar was with the army for its advance against the Germans after their failed Spring Offensive. His unit was involved in the liberation of the French town of Bapaume; hard fighting against an enemy which was on the back foot but still had plenty of resistance to offer.
FOR KING AND COUNTRY
DEATHS
SMITH. — On August 26th, 1918, killed in action in France, 8/3075 Second Lieutenant Oscar Charles Smith (7th Reinforcements), dearly beloved eldest Son of Mr and Mrs Chas. R Smith, of Glenledi, and late of Stirling; aged 23 years.
Deeply mourned. Good-night, beloved — not farewell. -Evening Star, 14/9/1918.
Oscar's family memorialised him on the anniversary of his death until, at least, the 1930s.
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