'From the morning of 7th June when the 1st Infantry Brigade Forward Station was established about Zero 2 hours till the Brigade was relieved on the evening of 9th June. Sapper Donaldson assisted to maintain the lines from the Forward Station Moulin l'Hospice to Battalion Forward Stations, one to the north and one to the South of Messines. The whole area was under shell fire, and at times heavy shell fire during the above period. Sapper Donaldson displayed devotion and disregard of personal safety and did valuable work. (On one occasion he was out repairing breaks for three hours, before he could get the line through).'
Source: London Gazette
Date: 16 August 1917

Regimental number	4/2072
Occupation	Draper
Next of kin	Father, John Donaldson, Kew, Dunedin
Rank on embarkation	Sapper
Unit name	New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 11th Reinforcements, New Zealand Field Engineers, Signal Company
Embarkation details	Unit embarked from Wellington on 1 April 1916
	Members of the 11th Reinforcements left New Zealand on board two ships, HMNZT 49 'Maunganui' and HMNZT 50 'Tahiti'. It is not possible from the Nominal Roll to determine on which ship an individual embarked.
Medals	Military Medal 'From the morning of 7th June when the 1st Infantry Brigade Forward Station was established about Zero 2 hours till the Brigade was relieved on the evening of 9th June. Sapper Donaldson assisted to maintain the lines from the Forward Station Moulin l'Hospice to Battalion Forward Stations, one to the north and one to the South of Messines. The whole area was under shell fire, and at times heavy shell fire during the above period. Sapper Donaldson displayed devotion and disregard of personal safety and did valuable work. (On one occasion he was out repairing breaks for three hours, before he could get the line through).' Source: London Gazette Date: 16 August 1917
Sources	Nominal Roll Vol. 2: Roll 28, p. 26