On 8 May, 1915, William Henry Warner of Takahau was killed at Gallipoli. He was 19 years old, and had sailed for Egypt and then the Dardanelles on the troopship “Tahiti”.

Letters found in his probate file show his excitement at the overseas travel that would later end in tragedy for so many young men. A letter to his sister, written as the ship entered the Red Sea, describes a stopover in Colombo [Sri Lanka], where he enjoyed a rickshaw ride, but remarked on the evident poverty and numbers of beggars. He also described passing the wreck of the “Emden” off the Cocos Islands.

The images here are of his later letter to his mother and father, dated 7 April 1915, written from Egypt “We landed at Suez and had a splendid trip on the train. The distance is about 140 miles and it was very interesting. Cairo is about 5 miles from here, and the Pyramids 16. I have been out there once and it is a wonderful pile alright. ------- We are going to Alexandria by train to embark for an unknown destination.” William Warner’s army personnel file can be downloaded from our WW1 Portal archives.govt.nz/world-war-one His service number was 12/1826. 67% of the New Zealand servicemen who died at Gallipoli do not have graves, as it was three years before Allied troops were able to return after their evacuation. Instead four memorials to the missing were built in the 1920s. William is remembered at Twelve Tree Copse, Helles, Turkey. www.anzac.govt.nz/gallipoliguide/memorialstomissing.html

The probate file is held at Auckland Regional Office - BBAE 1569/10862

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