Cpl
Donovan Oldham Hill
Information about birth
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Year of birth: 1896 |
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Place of birth: Motueka, Orinoco, New Zealand |
General information
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Profession: Engineer |
Army information
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Country: New Zealand |
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Force: New Zealand Expeditionary Force |
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Rank: Corporal |
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Service number: 25/549 |
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Enlistment date: 12/10/1915 |
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Enlistment place: Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand |
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Units: — New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 3rd Bn. (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 24/11/1917 |
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Place of death: Butte, Polygon Wood, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 21 |
Cemetery
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Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood Plot: I Row: A Grave: 12 |
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
Corporal Donovan Oldham Hill served as a Corporal in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade 3rd Battalion, part of the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade, of the New Zealand Division. On the 14th November 1917 the Brigade relieved the 13th and 15th Brigades in the Becelaere Sector of the Ypres Salient, east of the town. The 1st Battalion relieved the 1st Lincoln Regiment at Clapham Junction. The 3rd Battalion consolidated at Clapham Junction in support. The 4th and 2nd Battalions came up to Railway Dug-Outs. The Brigade headquarters moved to Hooge Crater.
On the 15th November, the 1st and 4th Battalions proceeded into the front line at Reutel. The headquarters of the front-line battalions were located in German tunnels in the Butte de Polygon where they met with heavy artillery. The use of the prominent landmark was revealed by aerial photographs and as a result it was subjected to continuous bombardment. A whole section of the country from the front line westward was entirely disintegrated by shell-fire, to which the shattered trunks of the “woods” testified. Parties of men of the front-line Battalions were frequently fired upon by the enemy’s artillery. The Brigade immediately effected such improvements as were possible but heavy machine-gun and artillery continued. On the night of the 19th/20th November the 2nd and 3rd Battalions relieved respectively the 4th and 1st Battalion in the front line. The Brigade Headquarters continued to be subjected to heavy bombardment in particular on the 20th. On the night of the 26th November the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were relieved by 1st Wellington and 3rd Otago. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions moved back to huts in Howe Camp on the Dickebusch Road, about a mile south-west of Ypres.
The casualties of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade for November 1917 were 41 killed and 105 wounded. The location of Corporal Donovan Oldham Hill’s initial grave may suggest that he was killed in action during the attacks on the prominent landmark Butte de Polygon. His remains were exhumed after the war and interred in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood.
On the 15th November, the 1st and 4th Battalions proceeded into the front line at Reutel. The headquarters of the front-line battalions were located in German tunnels in the Butte de Polygon where they met with heavy artillery. The use of the prominent landmark was revealed by aerial photographs and as a result it was subjected to continuous bombardment. A whole section of the country from the front line westward was entirely disintegrated by shell-fire, to which the shattered trunks of the “woods” testified. Parties of men of the front-line Battalions were frequently fired upon by the enemy’s artillery. The Brigade immediately effected such improvements as were possible but heavy machine-gun and artillery continued. On the night of the 19th/20th November the 2nd and 3rd Battalions relieved respectively the 4th and 1st Battalion in the front line. The Brigade Headquarters continued to be subjected to heavy bombardment in particular on the 20th. On the night of the 26th November the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were relieved by 1st Wellington and 3rd Otago. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions moved back to huts in Howe Camp on the Dickebusch Road, about a mile south-west of Ypres.
The casualties of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade for November 1917 were 41 killed and 105 wounded. The location of Corporal Donovan Oldham Hill’s initial grave may suggest that he was killed in action during the attacks on the prominent landmark Butte de Polygon. His remains were exhumed after the war and interred in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood.
Sources 2
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Archway Archives http://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ Sources used |
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Austin w.S., The Official History of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (The Earl of Liverpool's Own), (Wellington, Watkins, 1924), pg. 250-255. 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/480286 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=d85e0ab4-5503-4701-bfd4-2e86f079d854 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7176408 |
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The NZEF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=116000 |
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Online Cenotaph (Auckland Museum) https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/c6917 |