Donald Sydney WILSON

Regimental number10/732
Date of birth4 March 1894
Place of birthSydney, Australia
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationBank clerk
AddressNew Plymouth
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21
Height5' 11"
Weight166 lbs
Next of kinJames Wilson, 20 Brittania Street, Petone, Wellington
Previous military service'A' Company, 11th (Taranaki Rifles) Regiment
Enlistment date12 August 1914
Place of enlistmentNew Plymouth
Rank on embarkationPrivate
Enlistment statusVolunteer
Unit nameNew Zealand Expeditionary Force, Main Body, Wellington Infantry Battalion
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Wellington on board HMNZT 10 Arawa on 16 October 1914
Final rankPrivate
Final unitWellington Infantry Regiment
FateDied of wounds 17 August 1915
Place of burialAt sea
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel No 76), Gallipoli, Turkey

The Lone Pine Memorial, situated in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac, is the main Australian Memorial on Gallipoli, and one of four memorials to men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Designed by Sir John Burnet, the principal architect of the Gallipoli cemeteries, it is a thick tapering pylon 14.3 metres high on a square base 12.98 metres wide. It is constructed from limestone mined at Ilgardere in Turkey.

The Memorial commemorates the 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who were buried at sea after evacuation through wounds or disease. The names of New Zealanders commemorated are inscribed on stone panels mounted on the south and north sides of the pylon, while those of the Australians are listed on a long wall of panels in front of the pylon and to either side. Names are arranged by unit and rank.

The Memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. Most cemeteries on Gallipoli contain relatively few marked graves, and the majority of Australians killed on Gallipoli are commemorated here.

Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Mr & Mrs J. Wilson, Drive Avenue, Hawera, New Plymouth
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Embarked Wellington, 16 October 1914; disembarked Alexandria, Egypt, 3 December 1914.

Found guilty, 12 March 1915, of being absent from camp without leave: awarded 1 day confined to barracks.

Wounded in action, 8 August 1918; admitted to HS 'Valdivia', 10 August 1915 (gunshot wound, chest); transferred to HS 'Aquitania', date not stated; died at sea of wounds sustained at Gallipoli, 17 August 1915, and buried at sea off Naples.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsNominal Roll Vol. 1: Wellington Infantry Batln/Main Body
SourcesArchives New Zealand (Wellington), Agency AABK, Series 18805, File 22020522