My Maternal Grandfather

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John Hannah
My Maternal Grandfather

My Parents' Wedding Day
showing my Grandfather
John Hannah (aged 72)
on the right,

and on the left
my Paternal grandparents





John Hannah
Born 1878
Died 1958




My grandfather had been a farmer
until he served
in the New Zealand infantry
in the first world war











This is his Soldier's Pay Book
for use on active service









The Training card shows that
in 1917
he passed his:

Medical inspection
Dental inspection
Musketry
Live Bombing
PTG (?)
Bayonet Fighting
Wiring
Lewis Gun Proficiency
and a further Medical

New Zealand Infantry
in Flers, France 1916
ready to 'go over the top'










Army Form W.3066

states that he has the equipment
and clothing necessary

except for:

Rifle and Bayonet
2 Gas Helmets
2 Rockets
Goggles
Ground sheet



all of which he must have later received,
by August 1917
except for the ground sheet

New Zealand soldiers
in the trenches
France, 1917

The soldier is told
he must have this book
whenever he requires
a cash advance



It also tells us
he was 39 years of age,
not a young soldier...

The daily pay
for privates in the infantry
was 5 shillings (50c)


with a deduction of 3 shillings
he received a net rate
of 2 shillings per day









this page shows the inoculations
that he received
prior to active service
I can see TB mentioned
a number of times

then follows a record
of cash payments made
for the period
from Feb 17th 1917
until
June 4th 1919

when he was discharged
on account of wounds
received in action
after serving
a total of
one year
and 293 days
in active service abroad



Back in New Zealand
he eventually married
and my mother was born in 1930
the second child,
after a son,
by which time he was already
fifty two years old,
and followed later
by another daughter



They lived in Sumner, Christchurch
where he took up market gardening,
growing flowers and vegetables



I remember only a little
of my grandfather
as he passed away
at 80 years of age
before I was five years old.




He was tall
gentle
and softly spoken
had a limp
and a walking stick
He lived with us
in a room my father built
on the rear of the house,
which has always
been referred to as
'Grandad's Room'

The dress hat
for the soldiers
of the New Zealand Infantry
was called the Lemon Squeezer...




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