Albert Jackson Gurr

Second Lieutenant

Conflict:

WW1

Additional Information:

Born in India. Son of George James Lamont Gurr and Eliza Gurr, of The Grange, Richmond, Nelson, New Zealand.

References:

CWGC

National Archives of Australia

Relatives Who Are Also Casualties:

Frank Gurr, Brother, Killed in action 29/03/1918

NZ WAR GRAVES

CONTRIBUTED

Public Contributions:

Submitted by: Makereta Brown

Relationship to casualty: Great Niece

My great-Uncle Albert was born in Igatpuri, Bombay, India. The youngest of a large family, he moved to New Zealand with his family in 1902, where they resided in St Clair, Dunedin. Albert was a young...er brother of my grandfather, George Lamont Gurr and of Thomas Stuart Gurr, the author. Through the latter he was uncle to Tom Gurr, the Australian WW2 film-maker and war correspondant. Albert was an Old Boy of Otago Boys High School. On leaving school, Albert was apprenticed to Mr F. Wilkinson, Chemist, in Stafford Street, Dunedin. He rose swiftly, accepting positions of increasing seniority in Wanganui and Gisborne and completing his final examinations and registering as a fully qualified pharmacist in 1911. In 1912 he joined the Sydney branch of Burroughs Wellcome & Co (original parent company of Glaxo Smith Klein) as a research pharmacist. Albert joined the Australian Army on 22 April 1915. He served with the 19th Regiment in Gallipoli, where he was wounded twice. After recovering in Egypt he followed his regiment to France. He was killed at The Somme on the 14 November 1916. There was considerable confusion after Albert's death owing to a mix up as to his actual Army serial number. Amongst the official records are some sad letters from his widowed mother - my great grandmother - Eliza, who being dependent on her younger sons for income, was reduced to some desperation in the absence of Albert's army pension. Eventually the mess was cleared up, but only after an agonising wait and some heart-rending correspondence between Eliza and the War Office. Amongst those possessions of Albert's sent home were vials of medicine and bandages. I don't know if Albert was his company medic, but it would be in keeping with his occupation. Having joined as a private he proudly wrote home to colleagues, telling of how he had been commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant, the rank he held when he died. Albert is commemorated on the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. His name also appears on Rolls of Honour at Otago Boys' High School and in Holy Trinity Church, Devonport, Auckland, where his mother moved after the war. Another of his brothers, Frank, died serving with New Zealand forces at La Signy in 1918. Frank's name appears on Auckland Museum's memorial wall, but Albert's does not. A third brother, Robert Maynard Gurr, (Uncle Bobby) also served, but was invalided home. Uncle Bobby died in 1974. [Record since amended - NZWGT] Read More

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Casualty

Service Number:

741

Name:

Albert Jackson Gurr

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Date of Birth:

05 April 1889

Place of Birth:

Igatpuri, Bombay, Maharashtra, India

Education:

Otago Boys' High School

Next of Kin:

Mrs Eliza Gurr, 17 Cheltenham Road, Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand

Religion:

Church of England

Date of Enlistment:

22 April 1915

Place of Enlistment:

Liverpool, New South Wales

Marital Status:

Single

Occupation on Enlistment:

Pharmacist

Unit:

AIF, Australian Infantry, 19 Battalion

Casualty Details

Cause of Death:

Killed in action

Date of Death:

14 November 1916

Day of Death:

Tuesday

Age at Death:

Conflict:

WW1

Embarkation Details

Text in italics supplied by Cenotaph Online, Auckland War Memorial Museum

Cemetery

Cemetery:

Villers-Bretonneux Memorial

Cemetery Location:

France