A sad casualty at this time was Private Harry McCleary. He is commemorated on the Papanui War Memorial, but he does not appear to have had a direct connection with Papanui. It is possible that he worked in the area before moving to the North Island. He had been born in Australia and his mother, whom he listed as his next of kin, was living in Wellington in 1918. He enlisted in Auckland, where he had been working for the New Zealand Paper Mill. He was only 20 years old, and a member of the 40th Reinforcements, when he died of influenza on the transport ship Tahiti on 7 September 1918. He was buried at sea and is also commemorated at the Auckland Provincial Memorial at the Auckland Museum.
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