LCpl. George Reeve Bettelheim

George Reeve Bettelheim was born at Tauranga in New Zealand on 12 January 1889. He was the eldest son of Joseph James Bettelheim and Emma Elizabeth Bettelheim (née Reeve) who had married at Tauranga in 1887. George worked as a labourer and was a member of the Tauranga Mounted Rifles. On 15 August 1914 he enlisted to serve during World War I (Service Number: WWI 13/302). George left for the war with the main body in October 1914, served with the Auckland Mounted Rifles, and spent five months fighting at Gallipoli. His appointment to Lance Corporal was on 19 May 1915, but on 15 June he put in a request to revert back to Private. On 26 August 1915 George was taken ill with dysentery and rheumatism and invalided to Malta until 11 January 1916 when he was moved to Cairo. He left for New Zealand on board the ‘Tahiti’ on 11 February 1916 and was discharged from the army on 20 May 1916. George was suffering from lung trouble and was treated at the Waikato Sanitorium, but his condition did not improve. He was 29 years of age when he died of tuberculosis at Tauranga on 26 April 1918. George received a full military funeral before being buried in the Tauranga Anglican Cemetery [Row 7, Plot 193.]. In 2014 Tauranga's 'Field of Remembrance' was created by the Tauranga WW100 Committee. It comprised 107 white crosses in memory of the men from the Tauranga area who died during World War I. Each cross carries a red poppy and the name of an individual who died. Source: Biography by Debbie McCauley (8 December 2014) https://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com/biographies/tauranga-rol....

Sources

1. Bay of Plenty Times (29 April 1918). Death of a Returned Soldier.
2. Births, Deaths and Marriages Online (New Zealand).
3. Cenotaph Record
4. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Record
5. Military Personnel File
6. New Zealand War Graves Record