WWI BWM. Dixon. 2nd Bn Auckland Regiment NZEF (ANZACS) Court Martialled. GSW in France 1917.

Correctly named 23984 Pte RH Dixon NZEF

Robert Hardie Dixon was born to Joseph and Dinah in 1894 in Hull.

We find him in 1911 living at 1 Newland Avenue, Hull.

An address found for him in New Zealand, 48 Nelson Street, Auckland.

He enlisted into the 2nd Bn Auckland Regiment and we see him court martialled for desertion in July 1916.

He plead not guilty but found guilty of the lesser charge of making himself absent.

He headed to France in May 1917 earning himself a Pair.

2Bn Auckland Regiment NZEF

Part of the infantry of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (separate from the Auckland Regiment of the New Zealand Territorial Force).

The Auckland Infantry Regiment in the NZEF was one of four regional infantry groupings (along with Canterbury, Otago and Wellington) which made up the bulk of New Zealand’s infantry forces during the First World War. It served as the Auckland Battalion at Gallipoli in 1915 before being divided into 1st Auckland Infantry Battalion and 2nd Auckland Infantry Battalion in March 1916. An additional battalion, 3rd Auckland Infantry Battalion, existed between March 1917 and February 1918. The regiment served on the Western Front from 1916 until 1918.

2nd Battalion Auckland Infantry Regiment (2/AIR)
(a) 2nd New Zealand Infantry Brigade (Mar-Dec 1916)
(b) 1st New Zealand Infantry Brigade (Jan 1917 – Feb 1918)
Western Front:
Somme 1916;
Messines 1917;
Passchendaele 1917;
Spring Offensive and Advance to Victory 1918

He was wounded by gunshot on his right hand in June 1917.

He also served in the 8th Army during WWII.

Some reports found state that he died from a cold in 1943.

Worthy of more research.

The medal has an original silk ribbon.