Annie and Herbert Gadd had 12 children, among them Herbert Gadd, known as Bert, their eldest son. Bert signed up as a volunteer to fight in World War I soon after turning 20 in 1916, keen to do his bit. He served with the Auckland Infantry on the Western Front in France and Belgium and endured the privations, the fatigue, the fear, and the boredom, of life in the trenches. He began filled with enthusiasm, but as experience weathered him, became more cynical. Throughout, he wrote letters back home, hiding the true grimness of the war from his mother and younger siblings, confiding more in his closest sisters and brother. He survived the infamous Fields of Flanders during 1917, only to be shot dead as the New Zealand Division fought in a desperate action to stop the last great German advance of the war in March 1918.

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At the time of writing, no one is still alive who directly knew Bert. I remember talking about him with my Grandfather when I was a child. His memory was cherished. And though, through the years, knowledge of the details of his war service and death had dimmed, yet the family treasured the fragments of his life left behind. We are fortunate to have so much from Bert: his war diaries, 61 letters and some postcards sent home. We also have letters from men who served with him and who wrote to the family to try to give some explanation of how Bert died. We have his dead man’s penny, campaign medal and photos.

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This site is not intended as an impartial overview of the war. It is a record of one man amongst all the thousands who fought in the Great War, a humble soldier, who played his part and paid with his life. It aims to give an idea of what he went through. As you read his own words, you also get a sense of the man he was: strong of character, shrewd in his judgement of others, mature for his young years, with a good-natured humour. And possessed of a bravery which saw him, shoulder to shoulder with his comrades, repeatedly clamber from cover and walk into a hail of bullets to do his duty.

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This was first published on the 100th anniversary of his death, so that all of us who can trace some relationship to Bert can remember him, maybe learn from him, and honour his sacrifice. We owe him that.

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David Gadd

March 2018