Pte
William Duncan Heenan
Information about birth
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Date of birth: 24/01/1897 |
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Place of birth: Tapanui, Otago, New Zealand |
General information
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Profession: Farmer |
Army information
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Country: New Zealand |
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Force: New Zealand Expeditionary Force |
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Rank: Private |
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Service number: 49244 |
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Enlistment date: 24/01/1917 |
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Enlistment place: Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand |
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Units: — Otago Regiment, 1st Bn. |
Information about death
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Date of death: 21/01/1918 |
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Place of death: Noordemdhoek, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 20 |
Cemetery
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Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood Plot: XXIII Row: A Grave: 9 |
Distinctions and medals 2
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British War Medal Medal |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 2
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Enlistment place |
My story
Private William Duncan Heenan
William Heenan was born on 24 January 1897 in Tapanui, Otago, New Zealand, the oldest of the six children of Denis James and Edith Dingwell Heenan.
When he enlisted in March 1917, William was working as a farmer for his father in Nightcaps, a small town in Southland. He joined the 27th Reinforcement , service number 49244, but was transferred to the 26th Reinforcement, training at Trentham and Featherston camps. His unit departed New Zealand on 9 June 1917 aboard the troopship Willochra.
After reaching England on 16 August, William received further training at Codford and Sling camps beofre being posted overseas to the Western Front, joining 1st Battalion, Otago Infantry Regiment on 11 November 1917. He was assigned to the battalion’s 10th Company.
From 20 November he spent two weeks at the 2nd Brigade School. Shortly after, on 4 January 1918 he was admitted to 1st NZ Field Ambulance for ten days, suffering from scabies. He rejoined his battalion on 17 January.
At this period the New Zealand Division was in the Polygon Wood area, after the end of the Third Battle of Ypres. 1st Otago Battalion had taken part in the unsuccessful attack at Polderhoek, but much of the time was spent in wiring, repairing crumbling trenches and improving defences. The landscape was covered with waterlogged shellholes.
On 20 January the Otago Regiment came back into the front line. That night the support and rear areas of the Otagos were heavily shelled and it was probably during this that William Heenan was killed on 21 January, in the Noodemdhoek area. He was buried in the ‘Judge’ sector of Polygon Wood by Rev G. Robson, chaplain of Canterbury Infantry Regiment.
He is now buried at Buttes New British Cemetery, Plot XXIII, Row A, Grave 9.
William Heenan was born on 24 January 1897 in Tapanui, Otago, New Zealand, the oldest of the six children of Denis James and Edith Dingwell Heenan.
When he enlisted in March 1917, William was working as a farmer for his father in Nightcaps, a small town in Southland. He joined the 27th Reinforcement , service number 49244, but was transferred to the 26th Reinforcement, training at Trentham and Featherston camps. His unit departed New Zealand on 9 June 1917 aboard the troopship Willochra.
After reaching England on 16 August, William received further training at Codford and Sling camps beofre being posted overseas to the Western Front, joining 1st Battalion, Otago Infantry Regiment on 11 November 1917. He was assigned to the battalion’s 10th Company.
From 20 November he spent two weeks at the 2nd Brigade School. Shortly after, on 4 January 1918 he was admitted to 1st NZ Field Ambulance for ten days, suffering from scabies. He rejoined his battalion on 17 January.
At this period the New Zealand Division was in the Polygon Wood area, after the end of the Third Battle of Ypres. 1st Otago Battalion had taken part in the unsuccessful attack at Polderhoek, but much of the time was spent in wiring, repairing crumbling trenches and improving defences. The landscape was covered with waterlogged shellholes.
On 20 January the Otago Regiment came back into the front line. That night the support and rear areas of the Otagos were heavily shelled and it was probably during this that William Heenan was killed on 21 January, in the Noodemdhoek area. He was buried in the ‘Judge’ sector of Polygon Wood by Rev G. Robson, chaplain of Canterbury Infantry Regiment.
He is now buried at Buttes New British Cemetery, Plot XXIII, Row A, Grave 9.
Sources 2
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Archives New Zealand https://archway.archives.govt.nz/ Sources used |
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Byrne, AE., Official history of the Otago Regiment, NZEF in the Great War 1914-1918, (Dunedin, J. Wilkie & Co, 1921), pg. 266-268. Sources used |
More information 5
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480279 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=afff099e-f8d1-43e1-811f-85660243948c |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7176231 |
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The NZEF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=112438 |
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Online Cenotaph (Auckland Museum) https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C6732 |