Orepuki District Settlers - Archibald McPherson Wakefield, WW1 Memorial Entry

Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive

Archibald McPherson Wakefield, Private, WW1 #19074 - from Orepuki: Print copy of information page on Archibald McPherson Wakefield, Private, WW1 #19074 d. 12th October 1917, plus photographs news of the day & NZ War Graves Trust Memorial, with attribution. Archibald McPherson Wakefield, born 29/6/1895, enlisted 7/4/1916 at Trentham. He was KIA 12 October 1917 at Ypres, Belgium. The text from this information page, reads as follows: "Archibald McPherson Wakefield was born on 29 June 1895, to parents William and Priscilla Wakefield of Lillburn. In a tragic twist of fate, his father William was to die just two days before Archie was born, “after a painful illness”, which we have not been able to identify. It was reported the couple had 10 children, with Archie being the youngest and seventh son. It looks like his father William and the family had a bit of a rough life, times were hard then. In 1877 William Wakefield of Clifden Station, Waiau, files for bankruptcy. Then in 1893, William is granted land at Section 14, Block II (2) at Lillburn. But just two years later he is sadly dead. Prior to his enlistment, Archie was a Cheesemaker assistant under RJ Windelburn at the local Tūātapere Dairy Factory and was listed as being from Orepuki in some reports, but that would be rather a long way to travel by horseback to work every day. However as his mother Priscilla had so many children to care for after her first husband William tragically died, she remarried John Keith in 1898, who was a labourer at Orepuki, which is where she moved to. And it appears that Archie was not the only one of the family to serve, it was reported that an older brother saw service at Gallipoli and was in France at the time Archie was KIA. In news of the day, on 20/10/1916, Private JH (Joseph) Wakefield was reported wounded and he too was the son of the late William Wakefield, and he had grown up in the Clifden district. It was further reported that another brother was at home on leave when Archie was taken. Private William Wakefield of the Otago Infantry, returned home on the Maheno Troopship on 5/1/1916, having been invalided from enteric fever. Later in the year he was given land at Orepuki under a ‘Land for Soldiers’ ballot. One of the conditions was the land had to be held for at least 10 years. William stayed at Orepuki for a time, but by 1928 he had gone to Port Craig then when that closed, by 1930 William Wakefield was recorded at Pukemāori. William (jnr.) of Tūātapere is buried at Aparima Riverton in the Soldiers Section, dying on 1/6/1952. Archie had enlisted on 7/4/1916 at Trentham, in the NZRB or New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 4th Battalion, D Company. When he was killed at Ypres, Belgium on 12 October 1917, he was just 22 years of age. There were a lot of local soldiers killed in these particular battles. Archie is buried at Passchendaele New British Cemetery, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. At the time of Archie’s death, his mother Mrs Keith of Orepuki, received from Major Jones, the officer commanding D Coy, 4th Batt, NZRB, the following sympathetic message: “I wish to convey to you my sincere sympathy at the death of Rflm A McP Wakefield, who was in my company. He was killed in action on the morning of 12th October, during our big attack against the Passchendaele Ridge. He was a gallant and courageous soldier, whose fine qualities and manly characteristics had earned him the respect and esteem of all his platoon, amongst whom he was very popular. He was noted for early promotion, and had he been spared would have gone far. I extend to you my heartfelt sympathies in the loss of so fine a man and such a worth soldier.” Archibald McPherson Wakefield is remembered on the following memorials: - Orepuki War Memorial, Murihiku Southland, see below - Waiau District Soldiers Memorial Library, Tūātapere, see below - Invercargill Cenotaph also has Archibald McPherson Wakefield recorded - Commonwealth War Graves Commission online memorial, see below - Passchendaele Cemetery, Zonnebeke, Belgium, see below - Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, see field below - And New Zealand War Graves Trust project, as seen in field below" This history was researched and written by our own digitising archivist, Suzie Best, as part of a community project to memorialise all of the local and districts service personal from over the years. It is shareable under a CC BY Licence, with Attribution to both the creator & our CWArchive. More information about this family and and Archibald McPherson Wakefield, will be added in the future. In the meantime, please share your memories and stories of any of them that you know, or if you are related, please let us know, also if you have any more photos of any of them please. You can do this by adding a comment about it, at the bottom of the image page.