LOUIS WILLIAM SIEVERS
Service No. 30649
26 August 1887 – 30 November 1917
Service No. 30649
26 August 1887 – 30 November 1917
The wider Sievers family in Makara trace their lineage to two brothers, Anton Wilhelm and Augustus, who immigrated to New Zealand from Silesia (today a region of Central Europe located mainly in Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany) via England. Between them, the brothers had 18 children, and a son of Augustus had 16 of his own. They liked the names Louis, Lewis and William, giving several boys these names or combinations of them. Louis, for example, had an older brother named William Louis, born in 1882.
Louis’ grandfather, Anton Wilhelm SIEVERS, married Clarissa DAVIS at St Mary Moorfields Roman Catholic Church, London, England in January 1849. Eight months later, in August 1849, the couple left England on the “Mariner”, arriving first at Dunedin then continuing to Wellington, arriving in July 1850. They first settled in Marton, but sadly their first child, Rose, died in a fire which destroyed their house. They moved to Wellington and lived for a time in Parliament Street, Wellington, but eventually settled in Makara. They had 12 children, the eldest of whom was Alfred, born in 1852.
In 1876 Alfred married Elizabeth CATLEY. According to electoral roll records, Alfred was a farmer in South Makara, which is where they raised their family of at least three daughters and four sons, including Louis born on 26 August 1887, at South Makara. His birth was registered by his mother, Elizabeth, on 7 October 1887, under the misspelt surname Seivers. He attended Makara School, where he was enrolled on 23 October 1893, under the name William Lewis Sievers. He stayed at school long enough to pass the 4th standard. By 1911 he had become a farm worker listed in the Wellington Suburbs and Country Electoral Rolls at Makara, care of Alfred Sievers, Farmer. He joined the Wellington Mounted Rifles in 1912 or 1913, serving for three years prior to his enlistment for service in WW1 in 1916.
Louis was medically examined for war service on 12 June 1916 at Kilbirnie and was passed fit for active service. His brother, Albert Ernest, was examined the next day and also passed as fit. On 22 August 1916 Louis enlisted, and his declared date of birth was recorded on his attestation and other papers as 20 May 1878, making him 9 years older than he really was. This discrepancy seems not to have been picked up, and was maintained even on his death registration, his age being listed as 39 rather than 30.
For the purposes of this biography this is assumed to be a recording mistake at the time of attestation, as extensive searching has failed to locate a Louis Sievers, using a range of spelling alternatives for both first and surnames, born on or near this date. All the other information on the military personnel file for Louis Sievers aligns with other known facts about Louis, son of Alfred and Elizabeth, born in August 1887.
The Evening Post published an account of the men of the Twentieth Reinforcements parading at the Drill Hall, Buckle Street on 22nd August 1916. Louis and Albert’s names were amongst those listed as being on parade.
According to his medical records, Louis was 5ft 8 and ¾ inches tall, weighed 149 pounds, had a dark complexion with grey eyes and dark brown hair, he was fit with no defects with a chest measurement of 38 inches. While undergoing training at Trentham, Louis spent 4 days in hospital with influenza, being discharged to resume training on 27 September 1916. He was well enough to receive the normal inoculations in October, readying him for his posting.
Louis’ grandfather, Anton Wilhelm SIEVERS, married Clarissa DAVIS at St Mary Moorfields Roman Catholic Church, London, England in January 1849. Eight months later, in August 1849, the couple left England on the “Mariner”, arriving first at Dunedin then continuing to Wellington, arriving in July 1850. They first settled in Marton, but sadly their first child, Rose, died in a fire which destroyed their house. They moved to Wellington and lived for a time in Parliament Street, Wellington, but eventually settled in Makara. They had 12 children, the eldest of whom was Alfred, born in 1852.
In 1876 Alfred married Elizabeth CATLEY. According to electoral roll records, Alfred was a farmer in South Makara, which is where they raised their family of at least three daughters and four sons, including Louis born on 26 August 1887, at South Makara. His birth was registered by his mother, Elizabeth, on 7 October 1887, under the misspelt surname Seivers. He attended Makara School, where he was enrolled on 23 October 1893, under the name William Lewis Sievers. He stayed at school long enough to pass the 4th standard. By 1911 he had become a farm worker listed in the Wellington Suburbs and Country Electoral Rolls at Makara, care of Alfred Sievers, Farmer. He joined the Wellington Mounted Rifles in 1912 or 1913, serving for three years prior to his enlistment for service in WW1 in 1916.
Louis was medically examined for war service on 12 June 1916 at Kilbirnie and was passed fit for active service. His brother, Albert Ernest, was examined the next day and also passed as fit. On 22 August 1916 Louis enlisted, and his declared date of birth was recorded on his attestation and other papers as 20 May 1878, making him 9 years older than he really was. This discrepancy seems not to have been picked up, and was maintained even on his death registration, his age being listed as 39 rather than 30.
For the purposes of this biography this is assumed to be a recording mistake at the time of attestation, as extensive searching has failed to locate a Louis Sievers, using a range of spelling alternatives for both first and surnames, born on or near this date. All the other information on the military personnel file for Louis Sievers aligns with other known facts about Louis, son of Alfred and Elizabeth, born in August 1887.
The Evening Post published an account of the men of the Twentieth Reinforcements parading at the Drill Hall, Buckle Street on 22nd August 1916. Louis and Albert’s names were amongst those listed as being on parade.
According to his medical records, Louis was 5ft 8 and ¾ inches tall, weighed 149 pounds, had a dark complexion with grey eyes and dark brown hair, he was fit with no defects with a chest measurement of 38 inches. While undergoing training at Trentham, Louis spent 4 days in hospital with influenza, being discharged to resume training on 27 September 1916. He was well enough to receive the normal inoculations in October, readying him for his posting.
On 10 November, Louis and other men from Makara were given a local farewell, as reported in the Evening Post of 11 November, under the heading “Local and General”.
Both Louis and his brother Albert were posted overseas on 7 December 1916, leaving Wellington on the “Port Lyttleton” as part of the 20th Reinforcements, Wellington Infantry Battalion, B Company. They arrived in Plymouth, Devon on 18 February 1917 and proceeded to Sling Camp for training, attached to the 3rd Reserve Battalion.
Louis was admitted to hospital on 17 April suffering from a hernia, and his record shows he was also suffering from venereal disease. He was not fit enough to resume training until July, when he was posted to the 1st Wellington Infantry Regiment, in the 4th Reserve Battalion. Louis was sent to France on 20th August 1917 and joined the 17th Company (Ruahine Company) of the 1st Battalion, Wellington Infantry, on 31 August, in Rouen.
The Battalion had been in the line at La Basse Ville (where Harry Monaghan of Makara had been killed). By the time Louis joined them, the Battalion was based at Selles, nearer the coast and well behind the front line, undergoing training for the next offensive. During the first half of September, there were occasional breaks in routine, with a day trip to the seaside for sea bathing and a review on 14th by Sir Douglas Haig and the Right Honourable Winston Churchill, Secretary for War. On Sunday 16th September the Battalions participated in a church parade at Selles, and a football match between the 1st and 2nd Battalions resulted in a win to the 1st Battalion. However, this brief respite ended as the Battalions prepared for what would be known later as the worst ever military disaster, the First Battle of Passchendaele.
The 1st Battalion left on 25 September and marched for nearly 78 kilometers to reach the Ypres Salient by the 27th. Much of the march had been in full kit over hot cobbled roads and a few days was needed to rest and prepare. The area was completely devastated, with no vegetation surviving and it shocked even hardened soldiers. There were no trenches left in the front line. The men had to live in shell holes, and as the rain fell, the holes had to be continually bailed.
The first attack, known as the Battle of Broodseinde, on 4 October, was successful, though at the cost of some 450 lives. Overconfident, the command prepared for a second assault on 12 October. That assault in extremely poor weather conditions resulted in the worst loss of life on a single day for New Zealand and is infamous as the First Battle of Passchendaele.
Brigadier General Herbert Hart’s War diary (The Devil's Own War edited by John Crawford 2008) records his experience as follows (p. 203):
"12 October 1917
Rain came on through the night, and was falling steadily all the morning rendering the countryside a sea of liquid mud. Zero hour was at 5:25 AM, just as it was breaking day the guns broke out into the usual intensive barrage bombardment. Many guns had been unable to get forward to their proper positions and were stuck in the mud at all angles along the road between the original and their new lines. Obviously the barrage was not as heavy as we were accustomed [to]. For several hours there was total obscurity, then at about 9 o'clock news began to trickle back to Brigades and Division that the advance was held up by machine guns and wire on Bellevue Spur, facing the Second Bde, and the Rifle Brigade on the left were held up by machine guns enfilading their left from Source Trench just beyond their left flank. By this time the barrage had moved forward according to plan. At midday division issued orders for barrage to come back and the attack to recommence at 3 o'clock, but this was cancelled at about 230 and arrangements made to sit down where we were. Divisions on the right and left were in exactly the same plight."
Louis survived the battle, but at what personal cost we will never know. Mark Ingram, the grandson of Monty Ingram, a soldier at the battle, gave a speech at the 2016 AGM of the Passchendaele Society describing what it was like to be in the thick of the fire, at Passchendaele, that month.
During that month, Grandad’s Ruahine Company of the Wellington Battalion was reduced from 120 to 30. These were my Grandad’s friends, they were his companions, he shared his life with them – ate every meal together, walked every mile, prayed every prayer, shed every tear, laughed at every joke, together. All the while knowing every breath could be their last. The bond would have been incredibly strong. Then in an instant, gone. Not only killed in their prime, but gruesome deaths right in front of his eyes – one suffocating into toxic mud filled craters surrounded by dead and decaying corpses groaning for help, another blown apart by shellfire, another had limbs torn apart by high calibre machine gun fire, another his chest pierced through by an advancing German with bayonet extended. Why am I being so graphic? Because unless we reflect upon the horror, we cannot fully comprehend the sacrifice, the agape love these men had for one another. As my grandad looked upon his dead friends, friends who would have been closer than flesh and blood, knowing they died so he might live, how would he have felt? He couldn’t put in writing his true feelings. Clearly too traumatic to record no doubt. His good friend Stan, now suddenly in the prime of their lives, he’s gone in an instant. Blown apart. Never to enjoy family and friends again. Never to marry, nor have children, or grandchildren. No future. No legacy, other than the final act of sacrificial agape love for his fellow soldiers.
The New Zealanders were finally relieved by Canadian troops on 18 October, having lost around 3300 men during the engagement.
The 1st Battalion spent the next 6 weeks in and out of the line in the Ypres area. By late November, they were holding a front along the Broodseinde Ridge which was overlooked by a spur on the top of which was Polderhoek Chateau. Polderhoek was to be the next objective planned for 3 December. Louis did not live to participate in this action.
From 27th to 30th November there was intensive bombardment by both sides in this area. There is a vivid description of the bombardment on page 223 of the history of the Wellington Regiment (http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Well.html):
.....an intensive bombardment was put down on the enemy positions in front of the 1st Battalion's left company. During this latter bombardment, the left company was withdrawn, returning to the front line at its conclusion. The enemy retaliation was very heavy. For hours at a time, the enemy subjected our trenches to an intense bombardment. Practically the whole of the line on our left front was blown in and some casualties sustained. The conditions were very difficult indeed, as our line on the left consisted of an untraversed continuous trench and on the right we had only small unconnected posts. Luckily, only a little rain fell. Rations were, as a rule, brought by limber to Clapham Junction and thence carried; but, on some nights, owing to shell-fire, the rations could not be brought by limber further than Hooge. No cooking was possible, and consequently, cold meat was brought up and cold tea in petrol tins. Ration carrying was now very heavy work. Here, during four days, while merely holding the line, the 1st Battalion had ten killed, three officers and thirty-two men wounded, and one missing. Such was the toll of shell- fire.
Louis was amongst those who lost their lives during this bombardment, his death being recorded on 15 December as “killed in action Nov. 30th 1917”. He was 30 years old and one of many who had no mortal remains to bury in a grave. His name is on the BUTTES NEW BRITISH CEMETERY (NEW ZEALAND) MEMORIAL, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. He is memorialised amongst "378 officers and men of the New Zealand Division who died in the Polygon Wood sector between September 1917 and May 1918, and who have no known grave. The majority died in the trenches, or in working and carrying, and the conditions in the Salient during the winter of 1917-18 must explain the comparatively large number of names on this memorial, which deals with only one set attack on a German position.”
(http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/166200/BUTTES%20NEW%20BRITISH%20CEMETERY%20(N.Z.)%20MEMORIAL,%20POLYGON%20WOOD)
Louis had not married, had no children and left no will. His scroll and medals were sent to his father in 1921. Alfred and Elizabeth died 2 months apart in 1930 and were buried in a family plot in the Catholic section of Karori Cemetery, not far from the Louis’ grandparents Clara (Clarissa) and William (Wilhelm) who had died in 1904 and 1909 respectively.
The Sievers family were staunch Catholics and worshiped at St Patrick’s Church in Makara.
On Thursday last a solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated at the Makara Church by the Rev. Father Dignan for the repose of the soul of Private Louis W. Sievers, who was killed in action in France on November 30. He was the son of Mr and Mrs. Sievers, of Makara, and grandson of the late Mr. William Sievers, of Makara. The deceased soldier was born at Makara and was the third man from that district to make the supreme sacrifice for his country.
Dominion 31 December 1917 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19171231.2.15?query=sievers
Louis was admitted to hospital on 17 April suffering from a hernia, and his record shows he was also suffering from venereal disease. He was not fit enough to resume training until July, when he was posted to the 1st Wellington Infantry Regiment, in the 4th Reserve Battalion. Louis was sent to France on 20th August 1917 and joined the 17th Company (Ruahine Company) of the 1st Battalion, Wellington Infantry, on 31 August, in Rouen.
The Battalion had been in the line at La Basse Ville (where Harry Monaghan of Makara had been killed). By the time Louis joined them, the Battalion was based at Selles, nearer the coast and well behind the front line, undergoing training for the next offensive. During the first half of September, there were occasional breaks in routine, with a day trip to the seaside for sea bathing and a review on 14th by Sir Douglas Haig and the Right Honourable Winston Churchill, Secretary for War. On Sunday 16th September the Battalions participated in a church parade at Selles, and a football match between the 1st and 2nd Battalions resulted in a win to the 1st Battalion. However, this brief respite ended as the Battalions prepared for what would be known later as the worst ever military disaster, the First Battle of Passchendaele.
The 1st Battalion left on 25 September and marched for nearly 78 kilometers to reach the Ypres Salient by the 27th. Much of the march had been in full kit over hot cobbled roads and a few days was needed to rest and prepare. The area was completely devastated, with no vegetation surviving and it shocked even hardened soldiers. There were no trenches left in the front line. The men had to live in shell holes, and as the rain fell, the holes had to be continually bailed.
The first attack, known as the Battle of Broodseinde, on 4 October, was successful, though at the cost of some 450 lives. Overconfident, the command prepared for a second assault on 12 October. That assault in extremely poor weather conditions resulted in the worst loss of life on a single day for New Zealand and is infamous as the First Battle of Passchendaele.
Brigadier General Herbert Hart’s War diary (The Devil's Own War edited by John Crawford 2008) records his experience as follows (p. 203):
"12 October 1917
Rain came on through the night, and was falling steadily all the morning rendering the countryside a sea of liquid mud. Zero hour was at 5:25 AM, just as it was breaking day the guns broke out into the usual intensive barrage bombardment. Many guns had been unable to get forward to their proper positions and were stuck in the mud at all angles along the road between the original and their new lines. Obviously the barrage was not as heavy as we were accustomed [to]. For several hours there was total obscurity, then at about 9 o'clock news began to trickle back to Brigades and Division that the advance was held up by machine guns and wire on Bellevue Spur, facing the Second Bde, and the Rifle Brigade on the left were held up by machine guns enfilading their left from Source Trench just beyond their left flank. By this time the barrage had moved forward according to plan. At midday division issued orders for barrage to come back and the attack to recommence at 3 o'clock, but this was cancelled at about 230 and arrangements made to sit down where we were. Divisions on the right and left were in exactly the same plight."
Louis survived the battle, but at what personal cost we will never know. Mark Ingram, the grandson of Monty Ingram, a soldier at the battle, gave a speech at the 2016 AGM of the Passchendaele Society describing what it was like to be in the thick of the fire, at Passchendaele, that month.
During that month, Grandad’s Ruahine Company of the Wellington Battalion was reduced from 120 to 30. These were my Grandad’s friends, they were his companions, he shared his life with them – ate every meal together, walked every mile, prayed every prayer, shed every tear, laughed at every joke, together. All the while knowing every breath could be their last. The bond would have been incredibly strong. Then in an instant, gone. Not only killed in their prime, but gruesome deaths right in front of his eyes – one suffocating into toxic mud filled craters surrounded by dead and decaying corpses groaning for help, another blown apart by shellfire, another had limbs torn apart by high calibre machine gun fire, another his chest pierced through by an advancing German with bayonet extended. Why am I being so graphic? Because unless we reflect upon the horror, we cannot fully comprehend the sacrifice, the agape love these men had for one another. As my grandad looked upon his dead friends, friends who would have been closer than flesh and blood, knowing they died so he might live, how would he have felt? He couldn’t put in writing his true feelings. Clearly too traumatic to record no doubt. His good friend Stan, now suddenly in the prime of their lives, he’s gone in an instant. Blown apart. Never to enjoy family and friends again. Never to marry, nor have children, or grandchildren. No future. No legacy, other than the final act of sacrificial agape love for his fellow soldiers.
The New Zealanders were finally relieved by Canadian troops on 18 October, having lost around 3300 men during the engagement.
The 1st Battalion spent the next 6 weeks in and out of the line in the Ypres area. By late November, they were holding a front along the Broodseinde Ridge which was overlooked by a spur on the top of which was Polderhoek Chateau. Polderhoek was to be the next objective planned for 3 December. Louis did not live to participate in this action.
From 27th to 30th November there was intensive bombardment by both sides in this area. There is a vivid description of the bombardment on page 223 of the history of the Wellington Regiment (http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Well.html):
.....an intensive bombardment was put down on the enemy positions in front of the 1st Battalion's left company. During this latter bombardment, the left company was withdrawn, returning to the front line at its conclusion. The enemy retaliation was very heavy. For hours at a time, the enemy subjected our trenches to an intense bombardment. Practically the whole of the line on our left front was blown in and some casualties sustained. The conditions were very difficult indeed, as our line on the left consisted of an untraversed continuous trench and on the right we had only small unconnected posts. Luckily, only a little rain fell. Rations were, as a rule, brought by limber to Clapham Junction and thence carried; but, on some nights, owing to shell-fire, the rations could not be brought by limber further than Hooge. No cooking was possible, and consequently, cold meat was brought up and cold tea in petrol tins. Ration carrying was now very heavy work. Here, during four days, while merely holding the line, the 1st Battalion had ten killed, three officers and thirty-two men wounded, and one missing. Such was the toll of shell- fire.
Louis was amongst those who lost their lives during this bombardment, his death being recorded on 15 December as “killed in action Nov. 30th 1917”. He was 30 years old and one of many who had no mortal remains to bury in a grave. His name is on the BUTTES NEW BRITISH CEMETERY (NEW ZEALAND) MEMORIAL, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. He is memorialised amongst "378 officers and men of the New Zealand Division who died in the Polygon Wood sector between September 1917 and May 1918, and who have no known grave. The majority died in the trenches, or in working and carrying, and the conditions in the Salient during the winter of 1917-18 must explain the comparatively large number of names on this memorial, which deals with only one set attack on a German position.”
(http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/166200/BUTTES%20NEW%20BRITISH%20CEMETERY%20(N.Z.)%20MEMORIAL,%20POLYGON%20WOOD)
Louis had not married, had no children and left no will. His scroll and medals were sent to his father in 1921. Alfred and Elizabeth died 2 months apart in 1930 and were buried in a family plot in the Catholic section of Karori Cemetery, not far from the Louis’ grandparents Clara (Clarissa) and William (Wilhelm) who had died in 1904 and 1909 respectively.
The Sievers family were staunch Catholics and worshiped at St Patrick’s Church in Makara.
On Thursday last a solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated at the Makara Church by the Rev. Father Dignan for the repose of the soul of Private Louis W. Sievers, who was killed in action in France on November 30. He was the son of Mr and Mrs. Sievers, of Makara, and grandson of the late Mr. William Sievers, of Makara. The deceased soldier was born at Makara and was the third man from that district to make the supreme sacrifice for his country.
Dominion 31 December 1917 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19171231.2.15?query=sievers
One of the stained glass windows in St. Patrick’s, which is now (2017) a lovingly cared for community hall, includes a faint photo of Louis in military uniform in a stained glass window dedicated to the Sievers family.
Written and researched by Kaye Batchelor, edited by Barbara Mulligan
Sources
Index to Births, Marriages, Deaths – National Archives
Ancestry.com Web site
Auckland War Memorial Online Cenotaph http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph
Makara School Roll 1881-1907 MS Copy Micro MSZ-1320 0796 Alexander Turnbull Library
St Patrick’s Church Makara
Military Record available on Archway, reference Monaghan, Harry - WW1 19158 - Army (R21376533).
The Wellington Regiment (NZEF) 1914 – 1919. Authors W.H. Cunningham, C. A. L. Treadwell and J. S. Hanna. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Well.html
Gray, John H; From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth. The New Zealand Division on the Western Front 1916-1918.
Harper, Glyn; Jonny ENZED: The New Zealand Soldier in the First World War 1914-1918.
Hart, Herbert (Brigadier General); The Devil’s Own War (edited by John Crawford 2008)
http://passchendaelesociety.org/2016/08/
THE CALL FOR MEN, Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2795, 13 June 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160613.2.32
CALL TO ARMS, Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 139, 13 June 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19160613.2.62
CALLED UP, Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2856, 22 August 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160822.2.30
20th REINFORCEMENTS, Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 45, 22 August 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19160822.2.76
LOCAL AND GENERAL, Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 115, 11 November 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19161111.2.22
PERSONAL ITEMS, Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 82, 31 December 1917
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19171231.2.15
http://otariparish.co.nz/About/Makara-Church/
Sources
Index to Births, Marriages, Deaths – National Archives
Ancestry.com Web site
Auckland War Memorial Online Cenotaph http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph
Makara School Roll 1881-1907 MS Copy Micro MSZ-1320 0796 Alexander Turnbull Library
St Patrick’s Church Makara
Military Record available on Archway, reference Monaghan, Harry - WW1 19158 - Army (R21376533).
The Wellington Regiment (NZEF) 1914 – 1919. Authors W.H. Cunningham, C. A. L. Treadwell and J. S. Hanna. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Well.html
Gray, John H; From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth. The New Zealand Division on the Western Front 1916-1918.
Harper, Glyn; Jonny ENZED: The New Zealand Soldier in the First World War 1914-1918.
Hart, Herbert (Brigadier General); The Devil’s Own War (edited by John Crawford 2008)
http://passchendaelesociety.org/2016/08/
THE CALL FOR MEN, Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2795, 13 June 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160613.2.32
CALL TO ARMS, Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 139, 13 June 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19160613.2.62
CALLED UP, Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2856, 22 August 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160822.2.30
20th REINFORCEMENTS, Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 45, 22 August 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19160822.2.76
LOCAL AND GENERAL, Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 115, 11 November 1916
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19161111.2.22
PERSONAL ITEMS, Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 82, 31 December 1917
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19171231.2.15
http://otariparish.co.nz/About/Makara-Church/