Somme soldiers remembered

As the nation commemorates 100 years since the Battle of the Somme, Matakana resident Adrienne Miller has been searching the archives to uncover local soldiers killed in the battle. Adrienne has been publishing photos and stories on the Matakana War Memorial Facebook page for five years and has found two Matakana soldiers – William Henry Braithwaite and Hugh Barr Scott – died at the Somme.
Private Braithwaite shipped off to France in August 1916. Just 30 days later, on September 27, he was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme.

William Henry Braithwaite

Born on February 26, 1885, he was the only son of Joseph and Elizabeth Braithwaite, orchardists of Matakana. His family tree includes many pioneer families in the area, including the Stacpooles, Carrans, Wilmots and Pulhams. At 30, he was working on the family farm in Matakana and enlisted on January 11, 1916 with the 12th Reinforcements Auckland Infantry Battalion. Rifleman Hugh Scott died on November 22 from a gunshot wound to the abdomen he received on the previous day. He first arrived on the French battlefield in late April 1916 and was twice wounded.

Hugh Scott

The first time was on July 18, after which he spent several weeks recovering in hospital at Boulogne. The second wound on September 11 was more minor, but Hugh endured these wounds and the hellish conditions of the Somme before he was killed.
Hugh arrived in New Zealand around the turn of the century aged 20 and settled in Matakana, working on the farm of Henry Parkes. He is remembered at both the Matakana War Memorial and the Kingsbarns Parish Church, Fife, Scotland, where he was born.