Informations sur naissance

Année de naissance:
1893
Lieu de naissance:
Omaio, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Informations générales

Profession:
Bushman

Informations service militaire

Pays:
New Zealand
Force armée:
New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Rang:
Private
Numéro de service:
19728
Incorporation date:
15/01/1917
Incorporation nom de lieu:
Opotiki, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Unités:
 —  New Zealand Maori (Pioneer) Bn.  (Dernière unité connue)

Informations sur décès

Date de décès:
17/12/1917
Lieu de décès:
Bois du Polygone, Zonnebeke, Belgique
Cause du décès:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Âge:
24

Cimetière

Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood
Parcelle: XII
Rangée: AA
Tombe: 1

Distinctions et médailles 2

British War Medal
Médaille
Victory Medal
Médaille

Points d'intérêt 3

#1 Lieu de naissance
#2 Lieu d'enrôlement
#3 Lieu du décès (approximatif)

Mon histoire

Thomas McLean was born in 1893 in Omaio, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, the son of Puhata and Heneriata McLean (Makarini). He was probably known in his family as Tamati Makarini, a transliteration of Thomas McLean. It is not known if he had siblings. He was briefly married and had a child, Ka McLean, born in 1915.

When he enlisted for service with the Maori Pioneer Battalion on 15 January 1917, Thomas was working as a bushman near Opotiki. He went into camp on 6 March, training at Narrow Neck Camp, Auckland. This was the training camp for Pioneer Battalion recruits from New Zealand iwi and Pacific islanders.

He departed New Zealand on the troop ship Turakina on 26 April 1917, as part of the 25th Reinforcement. He arrived in Plymouth on 20 July, going into Sling Camp for further training. He sailed to France on 5 September 1917 and was posted to the Maori (Maori) Battalion on 16 September.

The Pioneer Battalion supported the Division by building roads and railways, digging trenches and performing the many physical tasks required in static warfare. This could involve front-line as well as behind the lines work. The troops were armed.

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 opposing German forces generally held higher ground and movement in the New Zealand lines was often observed and shelled or machine-gunned.

During this time the Pioneer Battalion worked on a tramway to Crucifix, duck-board tracks from Polygon Wood to Black Watch Corner and a communication trench from Polygon Butte to the front line at Jolting Houses between Noordemdhoek and Reutel. In December the weather was often freezing, making ground work difficult.

German shelling was often heavy, affecting both front line and back areas. The battalion history is not detailed on this period and it is difficult to say how Thomas McLean was fatally wounded on 17 December 1917 but it is likely shellfire was responsible. He died the same day.

Thomas McLean’s original burial was reported by Chaplain Clive Mortimer-Jones, attached to 3rd Canterbury Battalion. He is now is a special memorial at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood, for soldiers ‘Believed to be buried in this cemetery’. He is in Plot XII, Row AA, Grave 1.

Fichiers 2

Sources 7

"The Maoris in the Great War : a history of the New Zealand Native Contingent and the Pioneer Battalion", Cowan J., Auckland, Whitcombe & Tombs, 1926, pg.126-128.
Sources utilisées
Archives New Zealand
https://archway.archives.govt.nz/
Sources utilisées
Auckland Cenotaph
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/search
Sources utilisées
Auckland Weekly News
http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/HeritageImages/index.htm
Sources utilisées
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/480352/mclean,-thomas/
Sources utilisées
NZEF Project
http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/index.html
Sources utilisées
NZEF Project
http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/index.html
Sources utilisées