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Portraits of William Horace James and Gertrude Miriam James
There are six images on this negative, three of a man in the uniform of a Private in the 5th (Wellington) Rifles and three depicting a well-dressed older woman. The negative is inscribed with the name 'James'. The man has been identified as William Horace James and the woman has also been identified by a family member as his step-mother, Gertrude Miriam James.
Horace William James, service number 10/1861 was born in Australia on 22 February 1894 and was working as a clerk for the New Zealand Political Reform League when he enlisted on 6 January 1915. His father, Ernest A. James, was general secretary of the League from 1913 to 1929 and was a close associate of prominent conservative politicians such as William Ferguson Massey and Joseph Gordon Coates.
William embarked from Wellington with the 4th Reinforcements on 17 April 1915. He fought with the Battalion at Gallipoli from 9 June and survived the battle of Chunuk Bair on 8 and 9 August although he was wounded in the left leg. After the evacuation of Gallipoli he joined the 1st Battalion, Wellington Infantry Regiment in France. He was wounded on 2 October 1916 and was promoted to Sergeant on 1 December. James was engaged in the major battle of 1917, including Messines and Passchendaele. In September, Sergeant James was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer and was the Battalion’s acting Company Sergeant Major. From 29 June until 10 August 1918 he was detached from the Battalion to serve with the British Army’s elite Guards Division. William was awarded the Distinguished Conduct medal for his ‘conspicuous gallantry’. The citation stated that ‘from 17 September to 11 November 1918 [he] acted as CSM. During this period, when the Babbalion was engaged occasions in heavy fighting, particualrly at Briastle on 11th and 12th October when his company suffered severe casualities, and at Le Quesnoy, on 4 November 1918, where he did fine reconnaissance work. Following the 11 November 1918 Armistice William remained in England until December 1919 when he returned to New Zealand and was discharged from the NZEF in April 1920. William married Ida Elizabeth Anderson in 192. He became a journalist following his discharge, working first in Hawera then Gisborne where he was employed by the 'Gisborne Herald' newspaper. He re-enlisted in the Army in September 1940 as a Sergeant. He remained in New Zealand throughout World War II, serving with the Hawke's Bay Regiment and as Commander of the Guard Company at the Featherston Prisoner-of-War camp. By the end of the war he was a Captain. In 1946, he applied to be sent to Japan on occupation duty with 'J Force' but was rejected because of his age. William died in 1969, aged 74. Gertrude had died in 1937.The Berry Boys
During World War I, around 120 Kiwi soldiers had their photograph taken at Wellington’s Berry & Co photography studio before they left New Zealand to fight in the war . These portraits are now in Te Papa’s collection.
In the lead-up to the World War I centenary (2014-18), Te Papa is working to identify these soldiers and the loved ones they are pictured with. We want to make contact with their descendants, and to record their stories.
Some soldiers have already been identified. For others, we only have the surname etched on the glass negative.
Contact us
If you have any information you can share about the Berry Boys - either a soldier or someone they are photographed with - please use the online form above. You can also email berryboys@tepapa.govt.nz or leave a phone message for us on 04 381 7129. You can also write to Berry Boys Project Team, Te Papa, PO Box 467, Wellington 6140.
To aid identification, please be sure to include the Te Papa registration number (B.044366, for example) for the photo in question.