Private SAMUEL ALEXANDER No 6/2052 1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment C Company.
Private Samuel Alexander, sailed from Wellington to disembark in Egypt. Samuel fought in Egypt and Gallipoli and Somme.
He was repatriated to England but died from the wounds he got at the Somme, and is buried at Brockenhurst, New Forest, England 1916.
Samuel was born in Rangiora in 1888, he was one of 13 children. Samuels occupation before he enlisted was as a chef. His parents came to New Zealand on the Crusader in 1874 along with other members of their family including his grandparents. His Grandfather had been one of the delegates for the National Agricultural Union in England and had been given the task of gathering about 300 agricultural labourers to accompany them to Canterbury NZ under the ‘free passage and all found system’.
Samuels name is recorded on the Papanui War memorial on the corner of the main North Road and Harewood Road.