LCpl. John Vernon Herbert Bellers, MM

Commission agent John Vernon Herbert Bellers was killed in action at Belgium on 4 August 1916. John Vernon Herbert Bellers was born at Gisborne in New Zealand on 17 October 1886. His parents were Robert George and Ellen Bellers (née Fielding). John worked as a Commission Agent in Tauranga. He spent four years serving with the New Zealand Rifles and three years in the Royal Navy. In 1910 he and Mary Ann Coates married at Montréal in Québec, Canada. John enlisted to serve during World War I from Montréal on 27 May 1915 and became a Lance Corporal (Service No. WWI 419043). He served with the Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment, 42nd Battalion) and was awarded the Military Medal. John was 29 years of age when he was killed in action at Belgium on 4 August 1916. He was buried in the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground at Komenseweg in Leper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. 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

• Canadian Great War Project
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission Record