Pte
Charles Robert Dann
Information about birth
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Date of birth: 17/10/1883 |
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Place of birth: Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand |
General information
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Profession: Day laborer |
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: 33700 |
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Enlistment date: 19/06/1916 |
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Enlistment place: Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand |
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Units: — Canterbury Regiment, 3rd Bn. (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 16/12/1917 |
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Place of death: Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 34 |
Cemetery
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Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood Plot: IX Row: AA Grave: 18 |
Distinctions and medals 2
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British War Medal Medal |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 3
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Enlistment place | ||
| #3 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
Charles Dann was born on 17 October 1883 at Rangiora, Canterbury, the youngest of nine children of Allen and Emily Dann. By the time Charles Dann enlisted on 19 September 1916 his father had died. He worked on the family farm at Sefton, near Rangiora. He joined the 21st Reinforcement, enlisting at Trentham Camp. During training in New Zealand he was ill with influenza, having two weeks in Trentham Camp hospital.
He embarked from Wellington on 21 January 1917 on the troop ship Ulimaroa, arriving in Plymouth on 27 March 1917. He did further training at Sling and Codford camps before leaving for France on 28 May 1917. He remained in a reinforcement camp until he was posted to 3rd Battalion, Canterbury Infantry Regiment on 8 October 1917. He was not involved in the New Zealand Division battles of 4 and 12 October 1917 near Passchendaele.
The New Zealand Division was in the Polygon Wood area after the end of the Third Battle of Ypres. Much of the time was spent in wiring, repairing crumbling trenches and improving defences. The landscape was covered with waterlogged shellholes. The right of the New Zealand position was enfiladed from Polderhoek and a decision was made to capture the spur on which the ruins of Polderhoek Chateau and German pillboxes sat.
After the unsuccessful attack on Polderhoek on 3 December, the various battalions took turns in the line and in reserve. Neither the New Zealand Division history or that of the Canterbury Regiment give detailed information for the December 1917-February 1918 period so it is impossible to say with any certainty how Charles Dann died on 16 December 1917. The opposing German forces generally held higher ground and movement in the New Zealand lines was often observed and shelled or machine-gunned. On the night of 15/16 December the 3rd Canterbury Battalion relieved the 1st Canterburys at Polygon Wood and it was here that Charles was killed.
He is now buried in Buttes New British Cemetery in a special memorial area of soldiers ‘believed to be buried in this cemetery’ in Plot IX, Row AA, Grave 18.
He embarked from Wellington on 21 January 1917 on the troop ship Ulimaroa, arriving in Plymouth on 27 March 1917. He did further training at Sling and Codford camps before leaving for France on 28 May 1917. He remained in a reinforcement camp until he was posted to 3rd Battalion, Canterbury Infantry Regiment on 8 October 1917. He was not involved in the New Zealand Division battles of 4 and 12 October 1917 near Passchendaele.
The New Zealand Division was in the Polygon Wood area after the end of the Third Battle of Ypres. Much of the time was spent in wiring, repairing crumbling trenches and improving defences. The landscape was covered with waterlogged shellholes. The right of the New Zealand position was enfiladed from Polderhoek and a decision was made to capture the spur on which the ruins of Polderhoek Chateau and German pillboxes sat.
After the unsuccessful attack on Polderhoek on 3 December, the various battalions took turns in the line and in reserve. Neither the New Zealand Division history or that of the Canterbury Regiment give detailed information for the December 1917-February 1918 period so it is impossible to say with any certainty how Charles Dann died on 16 December 1917. The opposing German forces generally held higher ground and movement in the New Zealand lines was often observed and shelled or machine-gunned. On the night of 15/16 December the 3rd Canterbury Battalion relieved the 1st Canterburys at Polygon Wood and it was here that Charles was killed.
He is now buried in Buttes New British Cemetery in a special memorial area of soldiers ‘believed to be buried in this cemetery’ in Plot IX, Row AA, Grave 18.
Sources 2
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Auckland Weekly News http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/heritageimages/ Sources used |
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Ferguson David, The history of the Canterbury Regiment, NZEF 1914-1919, (Auckland, Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd, 1921), pg. 218-223. 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/480182 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=4d4fcfe3-b2e7-47a2-82df-b17d13f53f52 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7173335 |
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The NZEF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=61338 |
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Online Cenotaph (Auckland Museum) https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/c3647 |