Walton-on-Thames NZ General Hospital Roll of Honour

Walton-on-Thames NZ General Hospital Roll of Honour

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames

Roll of Honour and other images related to the No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital, Walton-on-Thames. Text and images adapted from Remembering the New Zealanders in Walton-on-Thames, a booklet published by the New Zealand Women's Association supported by the New Zealand High Commission. (Download orignal booklet as at pdf here).

No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital

The New Zealand Hospital opened at Mount Felix, an imposing house in Walton-on-Thames, on 31 July 1915. Huts and tents were also erected in the grounds but it was not large enough to accommodate all the New Zealand troops and the nearby Oatlands Park Hotel in Weybridge was requisitioned by the War Department in 1916. In total, 27,000 men were treated at the hospital, which was renamed the ‘No, 2 New Zealand General Hospital’ in 1916. Funds were raised by the New Zealand War Contingent Association led by the New Zealand High Commissioner, Sir Thomas Mackenzie, mainly from New Zealanders living in the UK but also with help from the New Zealand government.

New Zealand women played an important role at the hospital. Some were trained nurses but others were Voluntary Aid Detachment (VADs) who assisted the trained nursing staff, worked in the kitchens and drove ambulances. Many New Zealand women from prominent New Zealand families assisted in running the hospital including the Countess of Hardwicke, the former Miss Nellie Russell from Auckland. Lady Hardwicke organised trips for the men on her husband’s boat as well as other activities as part of their rehabilitation. On 13 August 1915 the King and Queen and the Prince of Wales visited the hospital, taking time to talk to the staff and patients. The New Zealand women who attended this event included Molly Tripp from Canterbury, who was working as a volunteer at the nearby Red Cross Hospital at Hanworth Park House, Feltham, Middlesex.

St Mary’s Church Walton-on-Thames Roll of Honour

Inside St Mary’s Church is a brass plaque listing the names of all those who are buried in the churchyard, as well as two other men who died elsewhere in the UK but were treated at No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital. The commemoration of the casualties is on screen wall monuments rather than individual headstones, as some graves contain more than one burial. Two plots containing eight grave spaces are directly in front of the two screen walls and the other plots are elsewhere in the graveyard. 

Screen Wall 402 10/2846 Private Montrose Arthur Baker from Gisborne was a member of the Wellington Infantry with the 7th Reinforcements. He died from his wounds on 12 October 1916 aged 21. Private Baker was the son of Lionel John Baker and of Esther Hamilton (formerly Baker) of 98 Stanley Road, Gisborne.

Screen Wall 412 3/306 Colonel Charles Mackie Begg CB, CMG, and Croix de Guerre, was a surgeon in the New Zealand Medical Corps. Colonel Begg was born on 13 September 1879. He was educated at Otago Boys’ High School and studied at Otago Medical School as well as Edinburgh University. He was the son of Alexander and Katherine Begg of Dunedin. Colonel Begg treated over 15,000 men during the Gallipoli campaign and he was awarded the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) on 8 November 1915. Colonel Begg then moved with the NZEF to France treating the wounded at the Battle of the Somme being awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government, and in recognition of his work at Messines and Passchendaele he was admitted to the Order of the Bath (CB) on 1 January 1918. He was mentioned in dispatches three times. After over four years on the battlefields Colonel Begg became Director of Medical Services for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and was the most decorated member of the Medical Corps. He died at his home in Twickenham from influenza and pneumonia on 2 February 1919 aged 39, leaving his wife Lillian, and two sons, Alexander Charles Begg and Neil Colquhoun Begg.

Screen Wall 911 Miss Wilmet Annie Bennett (known as ‘Bob’ in her family) was a volunteer nurse with the VAD working at the No. 2 NZ General Hospital, Mount Felix, Walton-on-Thames. She was born on 29 August 1885, the daughter of Joseph and Helen Bennett of Otahuao, Masterton. She died of appendicitis on 21 November 1918 aged 32.

Screen Wall 912 19109 Private Frederick Robert Black was married to Alice Ann Black from Rarotonga and was an accountant before he joined the Wellington Infantry Regiment. He died of disease on 5 April 1917 aged 36. He was the son of John Alexander and Anne Black and was born in Liverpool, England.

Screen Wall 407 22717 Rifleman Roland George Blinko was a cabinetmaker from Hastings. He served with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and sustained wounds to his face and head on 15 September 1916, in his first and only battle at Flers in France. He returned to England for treatment and convalescence at Hornchurch before being admitted to the No. 2 NZ General Hospital at Walton-on-Thames where he died on 6 January 1917 of pneumococcal meningitis. Roland Blinko was also a first-class cricketer, representing Hawke's Bay. He married Annie Manson in Whanganui just before his embarkation to Europe in April 1916.

Screen Wall 408 13/2300 Private John Lewis Boyd, a farmer from Wharepuhunga, Waikato joined the Auckland Mounted Rifles with the 7th Reinforcements. He was wounded by a rifle bullet in France and his injuries left him paralysed from the waist down. He remained in England after being discharged from the NZEF as his mother lived in Ringwood, Hampshire. He died on 29 February 1932 and was buried at Walton-on-Thames, his name being added to the Screen Wall later. Volunteer Ambulance Division at the No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital at Walton-on-Thames. England 7 8

Screen Wall 908 9/903 Sergeant John Brian Dalton. Served in the Hawera Mounted Rifles Volunteer Service but embarked from Wellington on 17 April 1915 to serve with the Otago Mounted Rifles as part of the 4th Reinforcements. He was slightly wounded at Gallipoli but had become seriously ill by the time he reached England where he was admitted to the No 2 NZ General Hospital Walton-on-Thames. He died on 2 December 1915 aged 35. He was the son of John and Katherine Dalton of Hawera.

Screen Wall 913 4/2083 Sapper Jack Fleming was married to Anne Charleswood and had two daughters, Annie Elizabeth and Nellie. He left his family in Auckland when he embarked in April 1916 with the New Zealand Field Engineers. He died of disease on 8 October 1916.

Screen Wall 913 6/1848 Private William Fox (his name was wrongly recorded as ‘Cox’). Canterbury Infantry Battalion with the 4th Reinforcements. He was the son of John and Nellie Fox of Toogoolawah, Queensland, Australia. He died of wounds received at Gallipoli on 26 October 1915 aged 22.

Screen Wall 910 5/236 Alfred (Arthur Henry?) Hall was a driver in the New Zealand Army Service Corps. He died of heart failure following an operation at the No 2 NZ General Hospital, Walton-on-Thames on 8 June 1916 aged 32. He was the son of Henry Edgar and Isabella Hall of Warneford, Wokingham, England.

Screen Wall 910 6/16 Private Kingi Hamana was part of the 1st Maori Contingent, B Company, New Zealand Pioneer Battalion. He died of tuberculosis on 3 October 1916 aged 22. He was the son of Rongo and Pine Hamana of Te Wairoa, Hawke's Bay.

Screen Wall 913 10/727 Corporal Thomas Henry Hudson was part of the Main Body of the Wellington Infantry Battalion which left Wellington in 1914. He died two years later from heart failure following pneumonia on 18 May 1916 aged 21. He was the son of Richard Phineas and Ellen Phyllis Hudson of Marlow, Motueka, Nelson. He was born in Ceylon.

Screen Wall 407 13/728 Corporal Thomas Wallace Phillips, Auckland Mounted Rifles, 2nd Reinforcements from Cambridge, New Zealand. He joined his unit at the Dardanelles on 30 June 1915 and he was wounded on 8 August 1915. He sustained a shattered left arm and shrapnel in his neck, hip and leg and for two days he was looked after by his cousin on the beach at Gallipoli before being transferred first to Malta and then to the No 2 NZ General Hospital, Walton-on-Thames. Corporal Phillips died of pneumonia on 18th October 1915. His parents were Matthew and Mary Phillips of Fencourt, Cambridge, Hamilton. He was born in Dumbarton, Scotland.

Screen Wall 407 8/787 Private James Livingstone Porter, Otago Infantry Battalion. He worked as a moulder before joining up early in the war and departing from Port Chalmers in October 1914. He died from wounds sustained at Gallipoli on 26 October 1915 aged 24. He was the son of William John and Isabella Porter of 1 Lundie Street, Roslyn, Dunedin.

Screen Wall 407 11340 Private William Henry Rishworth of Dunedin was wounded by shrapnel in Etaples on 21 September 1916 whilst serving with the Otago Infantry Regiment in the 12th Reinforcements. Private Rishworth was admitted to the No 2 New Zealand Hospital, Walton-on-Thames on 27 September 1916. He died later of wounds and tetanus on 4 November 1916 aged 25. He was the son of Emanuel and Jane Ann Rishworth of 68 Hawthorne Street, North East Valley, Dunedin.

Screen Wall 913 23/1168 Rifleman Edward Rout was employed as a general labourer by J. Cole of Papatoetoe before joining the 1st Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He died of wounds inflicted to his right shoulder and right leg on 3 October 1916 aged 22. He was the son of Harry and Lucy Rout of 3 Louvaine Cottages, Wigton, Cumberland, England.

Screen Wall 913 2/2714 Driver William Henry Russell, New Zealand Field Artillery, was born in Wellington on 12 February 1880. His occupation is listed as a ‘farmer’. He died of his wounds on 20 September 1916 aged 40. He was the son of William and Jane Russell of Lower Hutt, Wellington.

Screen Wall 909 16/1202 Private Terekia Taura from Atiu, Rarotonga, joined the Rarotonga Unit of the 3rd Maori Contingent, despite not being able to speak English. He contacted tuberculous and died in January 1917 aged 23. See also Private Terekia Taura's trench art on the WW100 website.

Screen Wall 909 16/779 Private Ramera (Raniera) Wairau embarked from Wellington in September 1915 as part of the 2nd Maori Contingent. He died of tuberculosis 30 October 1916 aged 21. He was the son of Ra and Wahati Wairau of Opoutama, Hawke's Bay.

Also commemorated but not buried in the churchyard.

Screen Wall 10/1890 Private William Orr McDiarmidWellington Regiment 1st Battalion. Private McDiamid was treated at the No 2 New Zealand General Hospital but died on 7 April 1916 aged 26. He was the son of Hugh and Margaret McDiarmid of 74 Bonaly Rd, Edinburgh, Scotland. He was born at Shillelagh, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.

Screen Wall 3/71 Captain Charles Kay Ward of the New Zealand Dental Corps, husband of Mrs H.R. Ward of Wellington. Captain Ward was treated at the No 2 New Zealand Hospital but died later on 18th January 1918 aged 33. He was the son of the Rev Charles Ward and Mrs Helen Ward of Wellington.

Community contributions

1 comment has been posted about Walton-on-Thames NZ General Hospital Roll of Honour

What do you know?

Eleanor Cole

Posted: 13 Nov 2019

I lived in Mount Felix for over 20 years. My husband's relative (ancestor) Ruth Rosewell married one of the NZ soldiers Alexander Grant. I have been researching the Mount Felix building and all its previous occupants and have a large file now. I am aware of the tapestry which was made in Walton on Thames and its tour of NZ and understand it is now back in UK. The book about the tapestry is really interesting.