In another letter the soldier states that he met his brother, Lieutenant Newman Wilson, who left with the Second Reinforcements, and who had been slightly wounded, a bullet traversing the skin from shoulder to shoulder; another bullet wont through his cap, and a third tore his puttees. He adds: “George Kennard, Gilbert Hay and Henry McKenzie, all Wardell’s men, are well and fit.” -Lyttelton Times, 6/8/1915.
LIEUTENANT WILSON
Private advice received yesterday by Mrs Wilson states that Lieutenant Newman Wilson's wounds are not of a serious nature. -Otago Daily Times, 19/8/1915.
Lieutenant Newman Wilson, Canterbury Infantry, wounded, left with the Second Reinforcements, Second S.C. Regiment. He was born and educated in Waimate, where he hold the rank of lieutenant Senior Cadets, and Scoutmaster Waimate Boy Scouts. On his transfer to Timaru he was appointed lieutenant in Senior Cadets in Timaru. Prior to enlisting he was an accountant in the machinery department of C.F.C. Association, Timaru. -Otago Witness, 25/8/1915.
Mrs Wilson has received a cable from her husband, Lieutenant Newman Wilson, who is now in London, stating that he is convalescent and doing well. -Evening Star, 8/10/1915.
NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS
NEWS FROM ABROAD
[From Our Correspondent.]
LONDON, November 18
Lieutenant Newman Wilson (Timaru), Auckland Battalion, who was wounded in the attack on Sari Bair in Gallipoli on August 10 and brought over to England in September, after being in hospital in Malta for a fortnight, has just left the Third London General Hospital, and is now convalescing at Pinner, in Middlesex. He has to go before the Medical Board on December 21. -Lyttelton Times, 3/1/1916.
Trinity Hall, which had been engaged for Chaplain-Captain King's lecture in Timaru, proved far too small to accommodate the large number of people who assembled to hear his story of the Dardanelles campaign. At half-past seven the hall had to be abandoned in favour of Trinity Church adjoining, and eight o'clock, when the lecture commenced, the large church was packed to the full, both upstairs and down. During the course of the address the lecturer elicited great applause by describing the work of Lieut. Newman Wilson, of Waimate, in accounting for 16 Turks — one with a bomb and 15 with the rifle. The motion of thanks to the lecturer was proposed by another Waimate ''old boy," in Mr Y. Thomas, M.A. -Waimate Daily Advertise, 24/6/1916.
Captain Newman Wilson (Canterbury Infantry, 2nd Battalion), who is reported wounded on September 18th, was born and educated at Waimate. He left New Zealand as Lieutenant with the 2nd Reinforcements, and during the Gallipoli campaign was seriously wounded on August 7th. After having been invalided to England for six months, he rejoined his regiment in Egypt, when he was promoted to the rank of Captain. Captain Wilson left Egypt for France with the 2nd Division. Prior to the war he was a clerk in the C.F.C.A. in Timaru. -Timaru Herald, 4/10/1916.
PERSONAL.
Mr R. L. Wilson now learns that Captain Newman Wilson's wound is classed as severe, but in a fleshy part of the body. -Waimate Daily Advertiser, 20/6/1917.
MAJOR NEWMAN WILSON.
Mrs Wilson has received a cable that her husband has been promoted to the rank of major. Major Newman Wilson left New Zealand with the 2nd Reinforcements as lieutenant in the 2nd South Canterbury Battalion. He was wounded at Gallipoli, at the Somme, and at Messines. He returned to France at the end of July, and now reports himself as being quite well. -Evening Star, 19/10/1917.
Waimate Borough Council
A vote of congratulation, to Mr K. L. Wilson, whose son, Major Newman Wilson, had been promoted on the field was carried. Major Wilson made a name for himself in the Gallipoli campaign as a sharpshooter, on one occasion getting as many as sixteen Turks in one day. He has been three times wounded, and has finally been promoted on the field to the rank of major. -Oamaru Mail, 24/10/1917.
WAR HONORS
MAJOR NEWMAN WILSON.
Major Newman Wilson, whose name appeared in the New Year honors list (Military Cross), is the youngest son of Mr Robert Wilson, of Waimate. Major Wilson left with the Second Reinforcements and was attached to the Second (South Canterbury) Battalion, with the rank of lieutenant. During the Gallipoli campaign he was severely wounded, but speedily recovered and rejoined his regiment. He saw service both at the Somme and at Messines, and was wounded on each occasion. It was after the fighting at Messines that he was promoted to the rank of major, in which capacity he is still serving in France. Before joining the army, Major Wilson was accountant in the C.F.C.A. in Timaru. -Evening Star, 9/1/1918.
PERSONAL.
Mr Wilson received word yesterday that his son Major Newman Wilson had been gas wounded on the 19th. -Waimate Daily Advertiser, 28/2/1918.
An English correspondent writing, on January 21th says: — King George held an Investiture yesterday, at which a large number of honours were bestowed. Major William Abbott. N.Z.M.C., and Major Newman Wilson. N.Z. Infantry, were personally invested by His Majesty, with the Military Cross. -NZ Times, 4/4/1918.
PERSONAL.
There are not many New Zealand soldiers who have, been wounded six times and are still serving. This is, however, the case with Major Newman Wilson, D.S.0., M.C., the youngest son of Mr R. L. Wilson, of Waimate. Major Wilson left with the 2nd Reinforcement as a lieutenant, and saw considerable service on Gallipoli, and later in France. He was awarded the Military Cross at the beginning of 1918, and the award of the D.S.O. was announced amongst the New Year honours. Before leaving for the front Major Wilson was on the office staff of the Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association at Timaru. One of his brothers was killed on Gallipoli, and another has returned. His wife, who resides in Dunedin, is at present visiting Christchurch. -Sun, 8/1/1919.
Major Newman Wilson, D.S.O., son of Mr Robert L. Wilson, of Waimate, has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. -Waimate Daily Advertiser, 24/3/1919.
A private cablegram received in Christchurch states that Lieutenant-Colonel Newman Wilson, D.S.O., M.C., left England by the Remuera, and is due in New Zealand soon. -Lyttelton Times, 27/3/1919.
The procession was marshalled at the Drill Shed shortly after 1.30, and the parade was in charge of Lt.Col. Newman Wilson, D.S.O., M.C. Prior to marching out, Lt.-Col. Wilson addressed the returned soldiers on parade, and expressed his pleasure at seeing such a representative attendance. He referred to the military training of the territorials and cadets, and hoped that some of the returned men would interest themselves in the territorial movement, as their steadying influence would do a power of good amongst the men and boys at present undergoing training. He complimented the returned men on their steadiness on parade, and expressed the hope that Anzac Day in the years to come would be even more largely attended than it had been in the past. -Timaru Herald, 26/4/1920.
SOLDIERS’ MEMORIAL UNVEILED.
After the service in the Olympia the procession was reformed, and marched through Queen Street to Victoria Park, where the Waimate District Soldiers’ Memorial was unveiled by Lieutenant-Colonel Newman Wilson, D.S.O., M.C., an old Waimate boy.
Others present on the platform were His Worship the Mayor (Mr. F. Nash), Dr. T. W. Wylie, M.C., Rev. J. D. Wilson, and Captain McHugh, M.C., who represented Colonel R. Young, Officer Commanding the Southern district.
The Mayor said the gathering was assembled to unveil a memorial to perpetrate the memory of those brave men and women who had left our shores and fought and died for us. He said they were under a debt of gratitude to the Memorial Committee, who had eventually selected what he thought a most suitable form of memorial — they had at first thought to erect a cairn on the Hills, but the arch at the Park had met with approval; and the Committee had handed over the memorial to the town free of debt. They owed much in addition to the architect for his fine design, and to the contractor. Mr. Nash apologised for the absence of Mr. John Kitchener, M.P., who had at first intended to be present at the unveiling here and at a similar function at Hakataramea, but had found that the time would not allow of his attendance at both functions. He introduced Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, whom he said was a Waimate boy of whom they were very proud.
Lt.-Col. Wilson said that it was a matter for congratulation to the people of Waimate and district, to the relatives of those who were no longer with them, to returned soldiers, and to all loyal Citizens, that such a lasting and impressive memorial should have been erected. It was the outward expression of the high regard and great appreciation they felt, and of the integrity of those men and women from the district did their job. To the returned soldiers it recalled the stricken battlefields, where bullet was king — over life and death, but not over spirit — of noxious gases and of the odour of their own and their comrades’ blood; it recalled the lonely grave — or no grave at all — the cemeteries adjutant to the hospitals in France, England and New Zealand, and the ocean which had claimed many, even ladies from this district: and they felt the memorial was the very least they could do for those who gave all for civilisation. They were liable to forget what their lot might have been had Prussia Militarism been triumphant. "They say the German has changed" he said. “Rot!” But if he changed, his ethics there was still a chance. France had been bled white; her ruin amounted to 112 billion francs. The Germans had not kept the promise to pay; they had given 4 billion, and were now complaining. The speaker went on to refer to Anzac Day. The generations to come would keep it a holy day; and they would tell their children of the terrible menace of 1914-18. President Wilson had said that it had been a war for democracy for all peoples, even the Germans. For those in Waimate, no reminder was needed of their gallant kin. “We remember how they left us,” he said. “With a smile and a hearty handshake, they left us, and went into the Valley of Death for us. I was with them shortly after the ‘kick-off’ and I know how they can die.” He related an incident where a shell had fallen among a group of men, killing two and terribly mangling another. “We took off his aim as well as we could,” he said, “and tied up the artery, and we took off the leg and tied that artery. ‘I’m in a bit of a mess,’ the poor chap said. ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Oh, well, I'll be all right by to-morrow,’ he said.’’ That was the spirit of the men; and if the call came again, be was sure the British people world drop the totalities of civilisation, and stand again shoulder to shoulder, blade to blade. In a war of that nature, he went on, it might be thought chivalry would be stamped out. It was not so: he could tell wonderful tales of chivalry and self-sacrifice. They had heard the tales of the “Aussies” taking up Turk after Turk on their bayonets and pitchforking them over their heads; that was damned rot — that was not the spirit of the men. If a Turk was wounded, who was the first to give him a drink of water, even at the risk of his own skin? Any “Aussie” or New Zealander. There was as much chivalry in that war as in any of the Holy Wars. He concluded by quoting from Kipling’s Recessional: “The tumult and the shouting dies, The Captains and the kings depart Lest we forget....Lest we forget;” and unveiled the memorial “To the glory of God and the honorable memory of the brave souls of Waimate and district who gave their all for us and for freedom.”
The draped Union Jacks fell aside from the tablets of names, and the volleys crashed out. The Last Post was sounded by Bugler Brenton; a prayer of dedication was uttered by Rev. Wilson; and the wreath-bearers came forward and laid their tributes reverently at the foot of the Arch. -Waimate Daily Advertiser, 26/4/1926.
Shortly after this, the Wilsons moved to Dunedin, where Newman held the position of Secretary of the Otago Farmers' Cooperative Association. He kept close ties with the Returned Soldiers' Association.
By the mid-1930s it was clear to many that a new war was possible - even probable. Newman Wilson, in his position of Chairman of the Otago Chamber of Commerce, made his opinion clear.
“ We cannot remain blind and indifferent to the fact that powerful war machines are being built up by certain nations,” said the chairman (Mr Newman Wilson). “Neither can we expect the taxpayers of Great Britain to find £80,000,000 for naval defence for our especial protection.” New Zealand depended for prosperity on its overseas trade, he said. Cooperation in defence was the first essential, and the common aim should be, first and. foremost, the establishment of superiority at sea. This was within the capacity of the resources of the Empire. Imagine New Zealand with no export trade for 12 months. What would happen to New Zealand’s economic structure? The expense of a reasonably efficient local defence force was within the country’s capacity. It was interesting to note that the Philippine Islands had a regular army of about 20,000, and would have a well-disciplined force of 400,000 citizens under the National Defence Act in 1935. It was stated that it would take an invading force some three years to capture the islands. -Evening Star, 16/9/1936.
DEATHS.
WILSON. — On January 15, 1940, at Brighton, Robert Newman Wilson, beloved husband of Beatrice Amy Wilson, of 5 Rewa street, Sunshine; aged 51 years. — The Funeral will leave 5 Rewa street, Sunshine, on Wednesday, the 17th inst., at 2 p.m., for (he Anderson's Bay Cemetery. — Hugh Gourley Ltd., funeral directors. -Evening Star, 16/1/1940.
COLONEL N. R. WILSON.
(From Our Correspondent.)
DUNEDIN, this day.
The death has occurred of Lieutenant-Colonel Newman Robert Wilson, at the age of 51. Colonel Wilson served in the Great War, winning the D.S.O. and M.C. At the conclusion of hostilities he was appointed officer in command of the South Canterbury battalion of the Territorial forces, and, on the outbreak of the present war, he was appointed to the command of Group 2 of the National Military Reserve. Colonel Wilson had served on the executive of the Dunedin branch of the Returned Soldiers' Association for several years, and was a past president of the association. He was manager for a considerable period of the Otago Farmers' Co-operative Association, and was a past president of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce. -Auckland Star, 16/1/1940.
Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.
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