Denise: waiting for the chance to serve

My great-grandfather, Andrew George Douthett, served in World War I.  He was born in 1873 and so must have been one of the older men who enlisted for active service, at the age of 42.   Great-grandad had joined the New Zealand Permanent Militia at the age of 19, and in 1896 he was turned down for entry into the Police force because he was considered too young at the age of 23 years. Perhaps these two events signal that he was looking for action and willing to serve his country.  

He married great-grandma, Jane, in 1897, and they had six children. However in 1916 he enlisted for active service and left his family behind. 

His military record shows that he served in Egypt and Western Europe in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, at times attached to the 2nd ANZACs battalion.  By the end of 1916 he was sent to a military hospital, having contracted influenza.  In total he served 2 years and 264 days in active service from 1916-1918, with various spells in hospitals suffering from ongoing pneumonia.  

He was finally shipped back to New Zealand in 1918, being too ill to continue in active service.  Records show that he returned to the West Coast, and took up farming in his later years – on Utopia (!) Road, Westport.

Until I began this search for our Crow’s Feet war story, I knew nothing of my great-grandfather’s involvement in the war. 

~ Denise Hitchcock

Application for Enrolment in the New Zealand Permanent Militia, for World War One.