TOPIC:

Hi All,

This is the story of a reunite I managed to effect recently, which came about after a remarkable coincidence. About two months ago a local numismatic dealer/auction house put out their next numismatic catalogue. One lot consisted of a British War Medal/Victory Medal pair to the NZEF, a WW2 NZ War Service Medal and a replica no-clasp QSA. The recipient, 42175 Cpl. James O'Neill, had previously served with the 6th NZMR Contingent in South Africa and was entitled to a 5-clasp QSA, but this was missing. I wasn't interested in the group as I don't tend to buy broken groups, so thought nothing more of it. About a month ago a local stamp dealer here in New Zealand offered for sale a single QSA to a member of the 6th NZMR Contingent. This was unusual as they almost never offer medals on their site. The recipient? 3271 Sgt James O'Neill - the very medal missing from the group at the other auction. My first thought was this was a recent split - the coincidence was too good to be true. Needless to say I contacted the QSA seller immediately and purchased the medal. It became clear that the seller had owned the QSA for at least 20 years and had no idea the rest of the group was coming up at another auction. This was indeed a remarkable coincidence. The kicker was that the QSA seller also had an extremely rare piece of ephemera to James O'Neill for sale, an identification card, printed on silk (I think). These have been mentioned on the forum before, but no one I have spoken to has ever see the New Zealand version.



So last week the auction came up, and I managed to purchase the other medals to complete the group, which I present here.

James O'Neill - 3271 Sergeant, 6th NZMR Contingent | 42175 Corporal, E Company, 23rd Reinforcements NZEF



James O’Neill was born 15th October 1880 at Cambridge, New Zealand. Son of Jersey-born William Francis and Mary O’Neill (née Campbell). William had seen service with the 3rd Waikato Militia and the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers prior to his death in 1896. James, following in his fathers tradition, joined No. 3 Company, Waikato Mounted Rifles on 5th November 1898, and was serving as a corporal when he was selected for service in South Africa. At the time of his enlistment in the 6th Contingent in January 1901 he was working as a labourer. His prior service saw him promoted to corporal before sailing on the S.S. Cornwall on 30th January 1901. James served a full tour in South Africa, with A Squadron, only being hospitalised at Wynberg in April 1902. This was hard soldiering, described by fellow-sergeant Charles Cox as “a stern and hard task, and one begins to realise it when the avergage sleep was four hours, and for a full days rations, three hard biscuits and quarter of small tin of jam”.

On his return from South Africa, James returned to the Waikato. By 1914 he was working as a bushman for the Patea Timber Company at Mananui (near Whitianga). He enlisted for service with the NZEF at Hamilton on 5th December 1916, and embarked with E Company, 23rd Reinforcements on 2nd April 1917, in the rank of corporal. James was reduced the ranks on leaving for France in July 1917, which was standard practice for new reinforcements. He served on the Western Front with 1st Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment from 4th August 1917. In a brief snippet in 1939 it was noted that James met up with fellow-6th Contingenter Dave Gallaher (Captain of the Original All Blacks 1905-06) just prior to Gallaher’s death at Passchendaele in October 1917. Both had served as NCOs in the Auckland Section of the 6th Contingent in South Africa, and both were subsequently NCOs in the Auckland Regiment in the Great War. In December James was attached to the Australian Tunnellers, before returning to his unit in January 1918. He was appointed lance-corporal in April 1918, and was promoted to corporal on 1st June 1918.

In late September 1918, the New Zealand Division was brought out of reserve for the final phases of the Battle of the Canal du Nord (27 September – 1 October). Fighting their way through the main Hindenburg Line, the 1st New Zealand Infantry Brigade seized the town of Crèvecoeur on the final day of the battle. During this assault, James suffered a gunshot wound to his left thigh, and was evacuated to England. He was in hospital at Hornchurch when the war ended on 11th November 1918. James returned to New Zealand on the S.S. Oxfordshire, and was discharged on 2nd March 1919.

After the war James gave his intended address as Gumtown (Coromandel), but later took up farming at Horahora, south-east of Cambridge. He married Katheen Pearl Carthy in 1927, and during the Second World War he served as an officer in the Horahora Platoon of the Home Guard, thus qualifying for the New Zealand War Service Medal. The Sixth Contingent had a very active veterans organisation, which had annual reunions and produced an annual magazine. It was not until 1939 that James attended a reunion - he had remained largely detached from his former comrades.



James O’Neill died 16th March 1973 at Thames, one of the last survivors of the 6th Contingent. He was buried in Thames (Totara) Cemetery His wife, Kathleen, passed away five years later, in 1978.

Hi NZMR

What a lovely story all round, a great reunite, an eventful life in three wars and lived to nearly one hundred

Thanks
Clive

NZMR,
Congratulations on the reunite of a cracking group with a fascinating backstory, and a photo of Jim O'Neill to boot.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers Steve