ROBERT McCONNELL

A casualty of the disastrous attack at Passchendaele on 12 October 1917 was Corporal Robert James Patrick McConnell. Like some other men honoured on local memorials, his connection with Belfast is obscure, although it is possible that he had lived or worked there at some time. He had been born in Dunedin in 1892 and prior to enlistment was living in central Christchurch while working as a fireman for New Zealand Railways. He joined the Army in June 1916 and was posted to B Company in the 2nd Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Arriving in France in March 1917, two months later he suffered a contusion to his left knee. He rejoined his unit two weeks later and after Messines was promoted to Lance Corporal. Six weeks later he replaced the sick Corporal Wright. He was initially reported wounded in action on 12 October, but later classified as missing. His body was never found, and a subsequent Court of Enquiry found that he had been killed in action. He joined the large number of the New Zealand missing commemorated at Tyne Cot.

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