KENNETH JAMES TAIT
Regimental No. 1/185
22.1 1894 - 23.3.1918
In 1874 Robert TAIT and his wife Elizabeth migrated from the Shetland Islands with their nine children. Robert trained as an architect but described himself as a builder to get assisted immigration under the Vogel scheme of the 1870s. He set himself up in business in Wellington as a builder, and had sufficient funds to purchase 33 acres or so of land between Aro Valley and the heights of Highbury from the Mitchells of Mitchelltown. Robert and his family became the first settler family in the area. Robert named many streets in the area – Thule Street where he built his family home, Ninian and Irvine Streets after various relatives, Harrold Street after a novel by his favourite author, Sir Walter Scott. He also named one street Norna, but the Council misrecorded the name and it remains designated as Norway Street. Rather prosaically, he also called the entrance to the Tait land development area on the slopes to the west of Kelburn Entrance Street.
The family home Robert built at No. 4 Thule Street stands today, somewhat altered but still recognisable. Thule Street is one of the many Wellington “streets” which comprise only a path and steps, and in this case it climbs steeply between Entrance Street and Raroa Road many metres straight above. Another of the houses he built is on the higher slopes of Highbury at No. 2 Harrold Street, and various members of his family lived in the property.
One of his sons, James, worked for the Post Office as a telegraphist, which was good steady work with career prospects. In 1892 he married a local girl – Alice Frances FUTTER[1] – and they had five children:
Kenneth James, born in 1894
Robert Eric, born 1895
Norma Sarah Ada, born in 1897
Erland, born 1900
Alistair Noel, born 1906
James’s work meant the family moved around New Zealand. In 1897, when Kenneth was three years old, the family was at Otaki where they stayed until at least 1903, before moving to the Coromandel. Kenneth appears to have done well at school and passed the Senior Civil Service Examination. Following this success he was appointed to a clerical position in the Head Office of the Department of Labour in Wellington in about 1910 or 1911. He fitted in study at Victoria College (now University) over the next few years, attending lectures in accounting in 1912, 1913, and 1914. He was the sporty type, excelling at cricket in the annual Christmas picnics of the Department of Labour. He was also a member of the College football fifteen and took a keen interest in all athletic sports. [2] He was in the Territorial Forces for four years, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He was an expert marksman and won prizes for rifle shooting.
It is perhaps not surprising that with his interest in the territorials, Kenneth was ready for action when war was declared on 4 August. Along with all other male members of the Kelburn Presbyterian Bible Class he signed up on 9 August, and was assigned the regimental number 1/185. The address he gave for his residence was “Taitville, Wellington” so presumably he was living with relatives. His military personnel file records that he was 5ft. 10 ½ inches tall, had brown eyes and dark brown hair, and a fair complexion. He professed to be of the Anglican religion, and was deemed medically fit for service.
He was on his way to serve overseas only 6 days later, as a member of the Samoa Advance Force. which captured the German Protectorate of Samoa two weeks later without a shot being fired. The journey across the Pacific was potentially risky, since the New Zealand troops were in unarmed ships requisitioned from the Union Steamship Company, whereas the Germans had five navy frigates roaming the Pacific. But the passage was uneventful, the troops landed peacefully, and Samoa surrendered on 29 August.
Kenneth remained in Samoa for eight months, but was discharged at his own request on 15 April, and returned to New Zealand.
But on 25 April 1915 the Gallipoli catastrophe started. It soon became clear that vast numbers of men were going to be needed to replace the dead and wounded, and for New Zealand to keep its commitment to the British War Office. The Minister of Defence said “very large demands would be made” and he “did not know how long this demand would be kept up”, but 16,000 men would be need within the year. Kenneth Tait responded. On 7 September 1915 he re-enlisted.
This time he spent a few months in training, before embarking with the NZ Mounted Rifles on the “Waihora”[3] from Wellington on 10 July 1916. The Mounted Rifles disembarked at Suez on the 20th August 1916, and spent a further month of training and acclimatising at the Moascar camp, during which time Kenneth was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.
As a member of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Kenneth was part of the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade (NZMR) dispatched to the desert to join the Palestine Campaign, which can be read about here.
The British invasion of Ottoman-held Palestine in 1917–18 was the third campaign launched by the British against the Ottoman Turks in the Middle East in the First World War. It built on the advances made in Mesopotamia (Iraq) and the Sinai in 1916. Having defeated Ottoman forces in the Sinai Desert campaign, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) – which included the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps – attacked Gaza, the gateway to Palestine, in March 1917. But the First and Second Battles of Gaza ended in failure.
Following a major reorganisation and with more thorough preparation, the British forces won a brilliant victory in the Third Battle of Gaza in October–November 1917. The EEF went on to capture Jaffa, most of southern Judea and the city of Jerusalem – a victory hailed as a ‘Christmas present for the British nation’.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/palestine-campaign
During the first months of 1917 Kenneth was seconded to the NZMR Brigade Transport and sent to the School of Instructors. He became qualified in use of the Hotchkiss machine gun, and by September 1917 he was put in command of the brigade. He had also been promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to Lieutenant.
On the 6th November 1917, during the Third Battle of Gaza he was awarded the Military Cross and the following brief citation was published in the London Gazette several months later:
"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. During an attack he led his troop with great gallantry and skill over ground exposed to heavy machine-gun fire. He showed magnificent leadership and skill.”
A few days after this engagement Kenneth was wounded by gunshot in the neck and throat. The wounds turned septic, and he was in hospital until January 1918, recovering and recuperating. In early February 1918 he rejoined his brigade, and on 14 March he was promoted to Captain.
On 23 March 1918 Kenneth Tait was killed in action on the banks of the River Jordan during yet another attack on the Turks. He was buried the same day by Chaplain Rev. J D Wilson and the map reference for his grave was entered in his military personnel file.
The official history of the role of the New Zealand involvement in the Palestine campaign described the events rather more dramatically in the section subtitled “How the Brigade crossed the Jordan and entered the Land of Moab.”
“It was a beautiful morning, the horses were in great form, and the men eager for a ride. The pace soon increased to a gallop. Post after post along the bank of the river was ridden down and the Turks immediately surrendered. Away out to the east the detached squadron had a merry time. They charged some enemy cavalry and a long running fight ensued resulting in numerous casualties to the enemy, the superior weight and pace of our horses proving too much for the Turks. Lieut. K. J. Tait, the leader of the foremost troop was killed in a duel with the Turkish cavalry leader. This young officer's dash and determination were the feature of the morning's operations. The main body of the regiment found the Ghoraniyeh crossing strongly held, but the sight of the lines of galloping horsemen was too much for the enemy. Some of the Turks stood their ground and a troop of the 3rd Squadron galloped right into them, seized their machine guns, and turned them on to the fleeing enemy with good effect. This bold move of the Auckland Regiment unlocked the Ghoraniyeh crossing and the infantry were soon hard at work on their pontoon bridge and by night-fall were beginning to cross.”
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Sina-t1-body-d7.html#name-123624-mention
Kenneth's name was eventually inscribed on the Jerusalem Memorial in the Jerusalem War Cemetery about which the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website provides the following information:
“After the occupation of Jerusalem on 8/9 December 1918 the Jerusalem War Cemetery was begun within the city on the neck of land at the north end of the Mount of Olives, to the west of Mount Scopus. It was later enlarged to take graves from the battlefields and smaller cemeteries in the neighbourhood. There are now 2,514 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery, 100 of them unidentified. Within the cemetery stands the JERUSALEM MEMORIAL, commemorating 3,300 Commonwealth servicemen who died during the First World War in operations in Egypt or Palestine and who have no known grave. The memorial was designed by Sir John Burnet, with sculpture by Gilbert Bayes. In addition, the mosaic in the Memorial Chapel was designed by Robert Anning Bell. The Memorial was unveiled by Lord Allenby and Sir James Parr on 7 May 1927.”
“Individuals are commemorated in this way when their loss has been officially declared by their relevant service but there is no known burial for the individual, or in circumstances where graves cannot be individually marked, or where the grave site has become inaccessible and unmaintainable.”
Kenneth’s family circumstances changed somewhat during the war, not only because of Kenneth's death. His parents had separated in 1907 and had been living apart ever since. His father had retired from the Post Office and taken a position as a Clerk to the Collingwood County Council. Not long after starting in this position in early 1916 he took his own life. By the time the various medals to which Kenneth was entitled, including of course the Military Cross, his brother Robert, who was the beneficiary of Kenneth's will, had died aged 23, probably of influenza (in November 1918). The medals had to be sent to the Public Trustee who was administering Robert's estate. From there they made their way to the next oldest surviving brother Erland, resident in Masterton, and then disappeared from sight for the next 90+ years. Eventually they were located and handed over to the oldest surviving Tait descendant, the son of the youngest of the four brothers, Alastair.
Robert Eric was buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Karori, or at least his life is commemorated on a plaque in the churchyard of St. Mary's Anglican church on Karori Road. Their mother Alice was living nearby in Stirling Terrace, which is now called Paisley Terrace, a small dead end street running from Old Karori Road ending in steps up to Chaytor Street. Her daughter Norma was living with her. Alice died on 29 March 1921, aged 51 years. Alice must have worshipped at St Mary’s Church, as there are plaques commemorating her and three of her sons (Kenneth, Robert and Erland) at the back of the church (see photos below). The fourth son, Alastair, died in the late 1960’s.
Kenneth’s name was included on the Aro Valley memorial even though he never attended Mitchelltown School. He was however one deemed to be one of the “boys of the district”, and with strong local connections it would have been difficult to omit him.
Research undertaken by Ruth Ward and Barbara Mulligan, and including some material provided by Elizabeth Plumridge.
[1] Alice may or may not be related to the family of Joseph Futter who is commemorated on the Newlands Memorial.
[2] “The Spike: or Victoria College Review, War Memorial Number” http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-VUW1920War_Spik-t1-body-d5.html
[3] SS Waihora was a 4,638 ton cargo steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Tyne in 1907 for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. During the First World War she was chartered by the Royal Australian Navy and took part in operations against the German colonies in the Pacific with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force and later used by New Zealand as a troop transport as His Majesty’s New Zealand Transport. She was sold in 1927 to Naigai Kisen and renamed Tairyu Maru and was bombed by United States aircraft on 19 February 1944 during the Second World War and was sunk.
Regimental No. 1/185
22.1 1894 - 23.3.1918
In 1874 Robert TAIT and his wife Elizabeth migrated from the Shetland Islands with their nine children. Robert trained as an architect but described himself as a builder to get assisted immigration under the Vogel scheme of the 1870s. He set himself up in business in Wellington as a builder, and had sufficient funds to purchase 33 acres or so of land between Aro Valley and the heights of Highbury from the Mitchells of Mitchelltown. Robert and his family became the first settler family in the area. Robert named many streets in the area – Thule Street where he built his family home, Ninian and Irvine Streets after various relatives, Harrold Street after a novel by his favourite author, Sir Walter Scott. He also named one street Norna, but the Council misrecorded the name and it remains designated as Norway Street. Rather prosaically, he also called the entrance to the Tait land development area on the slopes to the west of Kelburn Entrance Street.
The family home Robert built at No. 4 Thule Street stands today, somewhat altered but still recognisable. Thule Street is one of the many Wellington “streets” which comprise only a path and steps, and in this case it climbs steeply between Entrance Street and Raroa Road many metres straight above. Another of the houses he built is on the higher slopes of Highbury at No. 2 Harrold Street, and various members of his family lived in the property.
One of his sons, James, worked for the Post Office as a telegraphist, which was good steady work with career prospects. In 1892 he married a local girl – Alice Frances FUTTER[1] – and they had five children:
Kenneth James, born in 1894
Robert Eric, born 1895
Norma Sarah Ada, born in 1897
Erland, born 1900
Alistair Noel, born 1906
James’s work meant the family moved around New Zealand. In 1897, when Kenneth was three years old, the family was at Otaki where they stayed until at least 1903, before moving to the Coromandel. Kenneth appears to have done well at school and passed the Senior Civil Service Examination. Following this success he was appointed to a clerical position in the Head Office of the Department of Labour in Wellington in about 1910 or 1911. He fitted in study at Victoria College (now University) over the next few years, attending lectures in accounting in 1912, 1913, and 1914. He was the sporty type, excelling at cricket in the annual Christmas picnics of the Department of Labour. He was also a member of the College football fifteen and took a keen interest in all athletic sports. [2] He was in the Territorial Forces for four years, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He was an expert marksman and won prizes for rifle shooting.
It is perhaps not surprising that with his interest in the territorials, Kenneth was ready for action when war was declared on 4 August. Along with all other male members of the Kelburn Presbyterian Bible Class he signed up on 9 August, and was assigned the regimental number 1/185. The address he gave for his residence was “Taitville, Wellington” so presumably he was living with relatives. His military personnel file records that he was 5ft. 10 ½ inches tall, had brown eyes and dark brown hair, and a fair complexion. He professed to be of the Anglican religion, and was deemed medically fit for service.
He was on his way to serve overseas only 6 days later, as a member of the Samoa Advance Force. which captured the German Protectorate of Samoa two weeks later without a shot being fired. The journey across the Pacific was potentially risky, since the New Zealand troops were in unarmed ships requisitioned from the Union Steamship Company, whereas the Germans had five navy frigates roaming the Pacific. But the passage was uneventful, the troops landed peacefully, and Samoa surrendered on 29 August.
Kenneth remained in Samoa for eight months, but was discharged at his own request on 15 April, and returned to New Zealand.
But on 25 April 1915 the Gallipoli catastrophe started. It soon became clear that vast numbers of men were going to be needed to replace the dead and wounded, and for New Zealand to keep its commitment to the British War Office. The Minister of Defence said “very large demands would be made” and he “did not know how long this demand would be kept up”, but 16,000 men would be need within the year. Kenneth Tait responded. On 7 September 1915 he re-enlisted.
This time he spent a few months in training, before embarking with the NZ Mounted Rifles on the “Waihora”[3] from Wellington on 10 July 1916. The Mounted Rifles disembarked at Suez on the 20th August 1916, and spent a further month of training and acclimatising at the Moascar camp, during which time Kenneth was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.
As a member of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Kenneth was part of the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade (NZMR) dispatched to the desert to join the Palestine Campaign, which can be read about here.
The British invasion of Ottoman-held Palestine in 1917–18 was the third campaign launched by the British against the Ottoman Turks in the Middle East in the First World War. It built on the advances made in Mesopotamia (Iraq) and the Sinai in 1916. Having defeated Ottoman forces in the Sinai Desert campaign, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) – which included the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps – attacked Gaza, the gateway to Palestine, in March 1917. But the First and Second Battles of Gaza ended in failure.
Following a major reorganisation and with more thorough preparation, the British forces won a brilliant victory in the Third Battle of Gaza in October–November 1917. The EEF went on to capture Jaffa, most of southern Judea and the city of Jerusalem – a victory hailed as a ‘Christmas present for the British nation’.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/palestine-campaign
During the first months of 1917 Kenneth was seconded to the NZMR Brigade Transport and sent to the School of Instructors. He became qualified in use of the Hotchkiss machine gun, and by September 1917 he was put in command of the brigade. He had also been promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to Lieutenant.
On the 6th November 1917, during the Third Battle of Gaza he was awarded the Military Cross and the following brief citation was published in the London Gazette several months later:
"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. During an attack he led his troop with great gallantry and skill over ground exposed to heavy machine-gun fire. He showed magnificent leadership and skill.”
A few days after this engagement Kenneth was wounded by gunshot in the neck and throat. The wounds turned septic, and he was in hospital until January 1918, recovering and recuperating. In early February 1918 he rejoined his brigade, and on 14 March he was promoted to Captain.
On 23 March 1918 Kenneth Tait was killed in action on the banks of the River Jordan during yet another attack on the Turks. He was buried the same day by Chaplain Rev. J D Wilson and the map reference for his grave was entered in his military personnel file.
The official history of the role of the New Zealand involvement in the Palestine campaign described the events rather more dramatically in the section subtitled “How the Brigade crossed the Jordan and entered the Land of Moab.”
“It was a beautiful morning, the horses were in great form, and the men eager for a ride. The pace soon increased to a gallop. Post after post along the bank of the river was ridden down and the Turks immediately surrendered. Away out to the east the detached squadron had a merry time. They charged some enemy cavalry and a long running fight ensued resulting in numerous casualties to the enemy, the superior weight and pace of our horses proving too much for the Turks. Lieut. K. J. Tait, the leader of the foremost troop was killed in a duel with the Turkish cavalry leader. This young officer's dash and determination were the feature of the morning's operations. The main body of the regiment found the Ghoraniyeh crossing strongly held, but the sight of the lines of galloping horsemen was too much for the enemy. Some of the Turks stood their ground and a troop of the 3rd Squadron galloped right into them, seized their machine guns, and turned them on to the fleeing enemy with good effect. This bold move of the Auckland Regiment unlocked the Ghoraniyeh crossing and the infantry were soon hard at work on their pontoon bridge and by night-fall were beginning to cross.”
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Sina-t1-body-d7.html#name-123624-mention
Kenneth's name was eventually inscribed on the Jerusalem Memorial in the Jerusalem War Cemetery about which the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website provides the following information:
“After the occupation of Jerusalem on 8/9 December 1918 the Jerusalem War Cemetery was begun within the city on the neck of land at the north end of the Mount of Olives, to the west of Mount Scopus. It was later enlarged to take graves from the battlefields and smaller cemeteries in the neighbourhood. There are now 2,514 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery, 100 of them unidentified. Within the cemetery stands the JERUSALEM MEMORIAL, commemorating 3,300 Commonwealth servicemen who died during the First World War in operations in Egypt or Palestine and who have no known grave. The memorial was designed by Sir John Burnet, with sculpture by Gilbert Bayes. In addition, the mosaic in the Memorial Chapel was designed by Robert Anning Bell. The Memorial was unveiled by Lord Allenby and Sir James Parr on 7 May 1927.”
“Individuals are commemorated in this way when their loss has been officially declared by their relevant service but there is no known burial for the individual, or in circumstances where graves cannot be individually marked, or where the grave site has become inaccessible and unmaintainable.”
Kenneth’s family circumstances changed somewhat during the war, not only because of Kenneth's death. His parents had separated in 1907 and had been living apart ever since. His father had retired from the Post Office and taken a position as a Clerk to the Collingwood County Council. Not long after starting in this position in early 1916 he took his own life. By the time the various medals to which Kenneth was entitled, including of course the Military Cross, his brother Robert, who was the beneficiary of Kenneth's will, had died aged 23, probably of influenza (in November 1918). The medals had to be sent to the Public Trustee who was administering Robert's estate. From there they made their way to the next oldest surviving brother Erland, resident in Masterton, and then disappeared from sight for the next 90+ years. Eventually they were located and handed over to the oldest surviving Tait descendant, the son of the youngest of the four brothers, Alastair.
Robert Eric was buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Karori, or at least his life is commemorated on a plaque in the churchyard of St. Mary's Anglican church on Karori Road. Their mother Alice was living nearby in Stirling Terrace, which is now called Paisley Terrace, a small dead end street running from Old Karori Road ending in steps up to Chaytor Street. Her daughter Norma was living with her. Alice died on 29 March 1921, aged 51 years. Alice must have worshipped at St Mary’s Church, as there are plaques commemorating her and three of her sons (Kenneth, Robert and Erland) at the back of the church (see photos below). The fourth son, Alastair, died in the late 1960’s.
Kenneth’s name was included on the Aro Valley memorial even though he never attended Mitchelltown School. He was however one deemed to be one of the “boys of the district”, and with strong local connections it would have been difficult to omit him.
Research undertaken by Ruth Ward and Barbara Mulligan, and including some material provided by Elizabeth Plumridge.
[1] Alice may or may not be related to the family of Joseph Futter who is commemorated on the Newlands Memorial.
[2] “The Spike: or Victoria College Review, War Memorial Number” http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-VUW1920War_Spik-t1-body-d5.html
[3] SS Waihora was a 4,638 ton cargo steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Tyne in 1907 for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. During the First World War she was chartered by the Royal Australian Navy and took part in operations against the German colonies in the Pacific with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force and later used by New Zealand as a troop transport as His Majesty’s New Zealand Transport. She was sold in 1927 to Naigai Kisen and renamed Tairyu Maru and was bombed by United States aircraft on 19 February 1944 during the Second World War and was sunk.