CLARENCE COURTNEY

On 22 July 1918, Lance Corporal Clarence Channel Courtney was killed in action. His military record suggests he may have been a somewhat colourful character. He was the eldest of 13 children, whose family lived in Paparoa Street on the section where the primary school now stands. He enlisted in January 1916 and was posted to the Otago Infantry Battalion on his entry into Sling camp. He arrived in France in December 1916 and seemed to fall foul of the military authorities, having been awarded periods of Field Punishment No 2 ranging from 3 to 14 days for offences such as having a cartridge in the chamber of his rifle on parade, being late on parade and disobeying an order. He was wounded at Messines, and after recovery returned briefly to his unit before being hospitalised with a middle ear infection. His recovery meant that he missed Passchendaele, but returned to his unit in late November 1917 and was promoted to Lance Corporal in January 1918. He was granted three weeks' leave in the United Kingdom, thus missing the March battles near Amiens, but he returned in April 1918. He was killed in action helping to clear the Germans from trenches in the Rossignol Wood area and is buried in the Gommecourt New Cemetery.

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