4/1301 - Sapper

Ernest

McQUILLAN

Main Body - Section No.1

Timeline


1915

1915

6 October

Enlistment

Auckland Military District

1915

11 October

Initial training

Avondale, Auckland

1915

18 December

Transfer to England

S.S. Ruapehu

1916

1916

3 February

Marched in to the Company Training Camp, Falmouth

1916

9 March

Embarked for France

1916

16 March

From the Front

The Company joined the underground warfare in the North of France

Chantecler, Sector of Arras

1916

24 April

Awarded 7 days Field Punishment No.1 for absence from parade and creating a disturbance while under the influence of liquor

1916

6 June

Admitted to hospital with pyrexia of unknown origin

1916

9 June

Rejoined the Company

1916

23 June

Awarded 14 days Field Punishment No.1 and forfeited 14 days pay by Royal Warrant for absence from parade

1916

7 July

Admitted to hospital

1916

18 July

Rejoined the Company

1916

15 August

Forfeited 5 days pay for being absent from duty

1916

25 August

Awarded 28 days Field Punishment No.1 for refusing to obey an order to attend sick parade

1916

25 September

Admitted to hospital

1916

5 October

Rejoined the Company

1916

16 November

From the Front

The Company began the operations to connect old underground quarries in Arras in order to accommodate thousands of soldiers for an upcoming battle

1917

1917

13 February

Admitted to hospital with bronchial catarrh while on leave to United Kingdom

1917

20 March

Rejoined the Company

1917

9 April

Battle of Arras

British Offensive


From the Front

The Company was employed to rebuild a major road leading to the Front during the battle

Arras-Cambrai Road

1917

12 April

Awarded 90 days Field Punishment No.1 and forfeited 2 days pay by Royal Warrant for being absent from duty

1917

5 May

From the Front

The Company moved to Monchy, ten kilometres east of Arras, to work on the fortification of the new front line

The Billets in Monchy
1918

From the Front

The Company was still carrying out the digging of underground premises and defences on the Front near Arras

The Workshop in Arras

1918

7 February

Detached to NZ Base Depot, Etaples

1918

7 March

Awarded 14 days Field Punishment No.2 and forfeited 14 days pay for drunkenness and overstaying his pass

1918

21 March

Spring Offensive

German Attacks


From the Front

The Company was engaged in the defence of Arras by digging new trenches and dug-outs under constant enemy shellfire

1918

21 April

Rejoined the Company

1918

12 May

Forfeited 4 days pay for being out of billets without a pass and absence from tattoo

1918

29 July

Declared illegally absent without leave in the field

1918

8 August

100 Days Offensive

Allied Attacks

1918

27 September

From the Front

The Company experienced its newly reconversion in bridge construction

In front of the Havrincourt Bridge

1918

5 October

Rejoined the Company

1918

30 October

Sentenced to 12 months Imprisonment with Hard Labour and forfeited 68 days pay by Royal Warrant for absence without leave from his duty

1918

11 November

Armistice

Cessation of Hostilities


From the Front

The Company continued to build bridges to reconnect a fragmented territory

Over the Sambre River, Maubeuge

1918

30 November

Admitted to No.2 Military Prison, Rouen

1919

1919

8 April

Embarked for England to undergo sentence

1919

11 June

Sentence remitted and released from prison

Marched in to NZ Depot, Larkhill

1919

28 June

Transfer to New Zealand

S.S. Matatua

1919

5 September

Final discharge

End of Service

Decoration

British War Medal
British War Medal

Victory Medal
Victory Medal

Sources and bibliography

  • Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, AABK 18805 W5544 100/0076425, Military Personnel File: Ernest McQUILLAN - 4/1301.
  • Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Online Cenotaph He Toa Taumata Rau: Ernest McQUILLAN.
  • Nominal Roll of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 1915. New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company, Wellington, Government Printer, 1916, p. 1.

How to cite this page

Anthony BYLEDBAL, “Ernest McQUILLAN (4/1301)”, New Zealand Tunnellers, 2024 (2009). Accessed: 28 March 2024. URL: https://www.nztunnellers.com/roll/details.php?id=566