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Rifleman Thomas Daniel Everest
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TitleRifleman Thomas Daniel EverestAlternative NameDanSummaryA soldier in World War One. DescriptionThomas known as Dan was born at Springston on 24 June 1895, only son of Thomas and Betsy Everest. He was educated at the Springston School. On leaving school he followed farming pursuits and was working at Ellesmere for Mr E. Turner. He was of a very quiet disposition, and a very popular lad. He had previous military experience serving with the 13th Regiment, North Canterbury and Westland. He was 5ft 7½in tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He was also reported to have a slight stammer.
Dan enlisted on 12 January 1917 but was not called for training until 6 March. He was assigned to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 25th Reinforcements, G Company. He embarked on 26 April 1917 on board the SS Turakina and disembarked in Devonport on 20 July, marching in to Sling on the same day. He left for France from Tidworth on 21st September and marched into camp at Etaples 3 days later. He marched out to Reinforcement Camp at Etaples on 7 October and the next day joined the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade and was posted to A company. On 22nd December he was sent to hospital sick with scabies, re-joining his unit on 31 December 1917. But apparently it was too soon as he was back in hospital, this time at the No.63 Casualty Clearing Station on 19 January 1918 with contagious Impetigo. He seems to have been discharged and readmitted on 2nd February and then was admitted to the No.55 General Hospital on 6th February with pyrexia of unknown origin. He was evacuated to England with the diagnosis of Bronchitis and laryngitis on 5th March, being admitted to hospital at Tooting. He was then admitted to the No.1 General Hospital at Brockenhurst on 15th March and then sent to Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch on 27 March. It was 20 April before he was attached to the strength at Codford and three months later before he marched in at Brocton, the depot for the Rifle Brigade. Whilst at Brocton on 12th August he lost a day’s pay for having a drink. He finally left for France again on 28th September reaching Etaples the next day. He re-joined the 2 Battalion, Rifle Brigade in the field on 8th October and was killed in action, aged 23, on the 4 November during the fighting to take Le Quesnoy. The task of the New Zealand Division was to envelop the town of Le Quesnoy. The capture and mopping-up of the town was allotted to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He was buried near where he fell but after the war he was gathered in and now lies in Le Quesnoy Military Cemetery. His obituary notes that “in letters to his family he referred to the probability of coming home soon, and it is now a severe blow to the parents to get word of this kind, seeing that the fighting is finished”. In New Zealand Dan is remembered on the Springston War Memorial.
Le Quesnoy is an old town in the Department of the Nord, 15 kilometres south-east of Valenciennes on the road to Le Cateau and Avesnes. Le Quesnoy was captured by the New Zealand Division, without bombardment, on the 4th November, 1918; and a sculptured panel let into the town wall, linked with the Place d'Armes by a memorial avenue, recalls this exploit. The Cemetery Extension adjoins that part of the Communal Cemetery where the British graves are placed. It was begun by the New Zealand Division after the capture of the town, and used later by the 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. Twenty-four graves were brought in from the German Extension. There are now over 100, 1914-18 and a small number of 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 10 from the 1914-18 War are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 19 soldiers from the United Kingdom who died as Prisoners of War, of whom ten are buried here and nine at Valenciennes Communal Cemetery, none of whom could be individually identified, hence all are commemorated at both sites. Another Special Memorial is erected to one United Kingdom soldier, buried in Mecquignies German Cemetery, whose grave could not be found. The Extension covers an area of 560 square metres.
The capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy by the New Zealand Division on 4 November 1918 has special significance in New Zealand's military history. This is not merely because it was the last major action by the New Zealanders in the Great War - the armistice followed a week later - but also because of the particular way it was captured. When the New Zealand Division attacked on 4 November, its units quickly by-passed Le Quesnoy and pushed further east on what was to be the New Zealanders' most successful day of the whole campaign on the Western Front. It advanced 10 kilometres and captured 2000 Germans and 60 field guns. The attack cost the lives of about 90 New Zealand soldiers - virtually the last of the 12,483 who fell on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918.
The spectacular attack on Le Quesnoy. Capture of Le Quesnoy was an old fortress town occupying a strategic position in north-eastern France. It had been in German hands since 1914, and there were several thousand German troops still in the town when it was captured by the New Zealanders. The walls of Le Quesnoy could have been quickly reduced by heavy artillery, but there was no plan to mount such an assault on the town. Instead, several battalions of the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade were given the task of masking the forces in the town.
Their orders did not emphasise an immediate assault on the town, but the New Zealand troops were determined to capture it. There was a little competition between the 2nd and 4th Battalions; the former advanced on the town in the direction of the Valenciennes Gate, and the latter pressed forward from the west. The German defenders were demoralised, but their officers were not prepared to surrender without a fight.
This set the stage for one of the New Zealand Division's most spectacular exploits of the war. When a section of the 4th Battalion reached the inner walls about midday on 4 November, they had already scaled several of the outer ramparts with ladders, supplied by the sappers (or engineers). The riflemen could only use a narrow ledge to mount their ladders to reach the top of the inner wall. Led by Lieutenant Leslie Averill, the battalion's intelligence officer, they quickly climbed up the walls. After exchanging shots with fleeing Germans, the New Zealanders entered the town. The garrison quickly surrendered.
The medieval-like assault on Le Quesnoy captured the imagination of the townspeople, who were overjoyed at their release from a four-year bondage. Ever since, the town has maintained a strong affinity with New Zealand. So, too, has the nearby village of Beaudignies, which, in 2000, renamed its square 'Place du Colonel Blyth' in honour of one of its liberators. L.M. (Curly) Blyth, a young subaltern in the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade, was among the troops involved in the attacks. Although not involved in the actual assault on Le Quesnoy, his battalion advanced in its vicinity. His longevity ensured that he became a symbol of New Zealand's liberation of the Le Quesnoy area. Along with other surviving veterans of the Western Front, he was made a chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by France in 1998 and a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit three years later 'for services to war veterans and the community'. At the time of his death on 10 October 2001, at the age of 105, Lieutenant-Colonel Blyth was one of the last two remaining veterans of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Another New Zealand soldier associated with Beaudignies is Victoria Cross recipient Sergeant Henry James Nicholas, who was killed in action there on 23 October 1918. He is buried in nearby Vertigneal Churchyard. A carpenter from Christchurch, Nicholas volunteered for the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force in February 1916 and joined the 1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment on the Western Front in the following September. He earned the Victoria Cross for his part in the New Zealand attack on Polderhoek Chateau on 3 December 1917. He rushed forward, ahead of his section, to destroy a German strongpoint that was inflicting heavy casualties on the advancing troops. He used bombs and a bayonet to overcome the 16-man enemy garrison. He was killed in a skirmish with a German force at Beaudignies. Le Quesnoy is the site of one of the four New Zealand battlefield memorials on the Western Front (the others are at 's Graventafel and Mesen in Belgium, and Longueval in France). New Zealand is always officially represented at armistice commemorations in the town on 11 November, and politicians and other groups, including the All Blacks, have often visited the town.
First NameThomas DanielLast NameEverestFamilySingleOnly son of Thomas and Betsy EverestDate of Birth24 June 1894Place of BirthSpringstonDate of Death4 November 1918Place of DeathFranceCause of DeathKilled in actionAge at Death23
Dan enlisted on 12 January 1917 but was not called for training until 6 March. He was assigned to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 25th Reinforcements, G Company. He embarked on 26 April 1917 on board the SS Turakina and disembarked in Devonport on 20 July, marching in to Sling on the same day. He left for France from Tidworth on 21st September and marched into camp at Etaples 3 days later. He marched out to Reinforcement Camp at Etaples on 7 October and the next day joined the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade and was posted to A company. On 22nd December he was sent to hospital sick with scabies, re-joining his unit on 31 December 1917. But apparently it was too soon as he was back in hospital, this time at the No.63 Casualty Clearing Station on 19 January 1918 with contagious Impetigo. He seems to have been discharged and readmitted on 2nd February and then was admitted to the No.55 General Hospital on 6th February with pyrexia of unknown origin. He was evacuated to England with the diagnosis of Bronchitis and laryngitis on 5th March, being admitted to hospital at Tooting. He was then admitted to the No.1 General Hospital at Brockenhurst on 15th March and then sent to Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch on 27 March. It was 20 April before he was attached to the strength at Codford and three months later before he marched in at Brocton, the depot for the Rifle Brigade. Whilst at Brocton on 12th August he lost a day’s pay for having a drink. He finally left for France again on 28th September reaching Etaples the next day. He re-joined the 2 Battalion, Rifle Brigade in the field on 8th October and was killed in action, aged 23, on the 4 November during the fighting to take Le Quesnoy. The task of the New Zealand Division was to envelop the town of Le Quesnoy. The capture and mopping-up of the town was allotted to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He was buried near where he fell but after the war he was gathered in and now lies in Le Quesnoy Military Cemetery. His obituary notes that “in letters to his family he referred to the probability of coming home soon, and it is now a severe blow to the parents to get word of this kind, seeing that the fighting is finished”. In New Zealand Dan is remembered on the Springston War Memorial.
Le Quesnoy is an old town in the Department of the Nord, 15 kilometres south-east of Valenciennes on the road to Le Cateau and Avesnes. Le Quesnoy was captured by the New Zealand Division, without bombardment, on the 4th November, 1918; and a sculptured panel let into the town wall, linked with the Place d'Armes by a memorial avenue, recalls this exploit. The Cemetery Extension adjoins that part of the Communal Cemetery where the British graves are placed. It was begun by the New Zealand Division after the capture of the town, and used later by the 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. Twenty-four graves were brought in from the German Extension. There are now over 100, 1914-18 and a small number of 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 10 from the 1914-18 War are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 19 soldiers from the United Kingdom who died as Prisoners of War, of whom ten are buried here and nine at Valenciennes Communal Cemetery, none of whom could be individually identified, hence all are commemorated at both sites. Another Special Memorial is erected to one United Kingdom soldier, buried in Mecquignies German Cemetery, whose grave could not be found. The Extension covers an area of 560 square metres.
The capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy by the New Zealand Division on 4 November 1918 has special significance in New Zealand's military history. This is not merely because it was the last major action by the New Zealanders in the Great War - the armistice followed a week later - but also because of the particular way it was captured. When the New Zealand Division attacked on 4 November, its units quickly by-passed Le Quesnoy and pushed further east on what was to be the New Zealanders' most successful day of the whole campaign on the Western Front. It advanced 10 kilometres and captured 2000 Germans and 60 field guns. The attack cost the lives of about 90 New Zealand soldiers - virtually the last of the 12,483 who fell on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918.
The spectacular attack on Le Quesnoy. Capture of Le Quesnoy was an old fortress town occupying a strategic position in north-eastern France. It had been in German hands since 1914, and there were several thousand German troops still in the town when it was captured by the New Zealanders. The walls of Le Quesnoy could have been quickly reduced by heavy artillery, but there was no plan to mount such an assault on the town. Instead, several battalions of the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade were given the task of masking the forces in the town.
Their orders did not emphasise an immediate assault on the town, but the New Zealand troops were determined to capture it. There was a little competition between the 2nd and 4th Battalions; the former advanced on the town in the direction of the Valenciennes Gate, and the latter pressed forward from the west. The German defenders were demoralised, but their officers were not prepared to surrender without a fight.
This set the stage for one of the New Zealand Division's most spectacular exploits of the war. When a section of the 4th Battalion reached the inner walls about midday on 4 November, they had already scaled several of the outer ramparts with ladders, supplied by the sappers (or engineers). The riflemen could only use a narrow ledge to mount their ladders to reach the top of the inner wall. Led by Lieutenant Leslie Averill, the battalion's intelligence officer, they quickly climbed up the walls. After exchanging shots with fleeing Germans, the New Zealanders entered the town. The garrison quickly surrendered.
The medieval-like assault on Le Quesnoy captured the imagination of the townspeople, who were overjoyed at their release from a four-year bondage. Ever since, the town has maintained a strong affinity with New Zealand. So, too, has the nearby village of Beaudignies, which, in 2000, renamed its square 'Place du Colonel Blyth' in honour of one of its liberators. L.M. (Curly) Blyth, a young subaltern in the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade, was among the troops involved in the attacks. Although not involved in the actual assault on Le Quesnoy, his battalion advanced in its vicinity. His longevity ensured that he became a symbol of New Zealand's liberation of the Le Quesnoy area. Along with other surviving veterans of the Western Front, he was made a chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by France in 1998 and a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit three years later 'for services to war veterans and the community'. At the time of his death on 10 October 2001, at the age of 105, Lieutenant-Colonel Blyth was one of the last two remaining veterans of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Another New Zealand soldier associated with Beaudignies is Victoria Cross recipient Sergeant Henry James Nicholas, who was killed in action there on 23 October 1918. He is buried in nearby Vertigneal Churchyard. A carpenter from Christchurch, Nicholas volunteered for the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force in February 1916 and joined the 1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment on the Western Front in the following September. He earned the Victoria Cross for his part in the New Zealand attack on Polderhoek Chateau on 3 December 1917. He rushed forward, ahead of his section, to destroy a German strongpoint that was inflicting heavy casualties on the advancing troops. He used bombs and a bayonet to overcome the 16-man enemy garrison. He was killed in a skirmish with a German force at Beaudignies. Le Quesnoy is the site of one of the four New Zealand battlefield memorials on the Western Front (the others are at 's Graventafel and Mesen in Belgium, and Longueval in France). New Zealand is always officially represented at armistice commemorations in the town on 11 November, and politicians and other groups, including the All Blacks, have often visited the town.
First NameThomas DanielLast NameEverestFamilySingleOnly son of Thomas and Betsy EverestDate of Birth24 June 1894Place of BirthSpringstonDate of Death4 November 1918Place of DeathFranceCause of DeathKilled in actionAge at Death23
Connections
CollectionSoldiers of Selwyn World War OneImageSpringston War MemorialMore InformationAuckland War Memorial Cenotaph
Military Service
Memorial or CemeteryLe Quesnoy Military CemeterySpringston War MemorialOccupation before EnlistingFarmer Regiment or ServiceNew Zealand Rifle BrigadeEnlistment Details12th January 1917Service Number48822 Embarkation26th April 1917TransportTurakinaReinforcement25th ReinforcementsCountryNew Zealand
Attribution
Researched ByL. M. SeatonTaken FromPhoto taken from Auckland War Memorial Cenotaph. Please refer to this site for the photo’s copyright license
Rifleman Thomas Daniel Everest. Selwyn Stories, accessed 08/11/2025, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/361
