The Anzacs

Most decorated · 14 medals and honours, 0 for gallantry

Lieutenant Colonel George Bertrand

George Bertrand was a Ngati Mutunga schoolteacher from Urenui who sailed with the Main Body in 1914, served as a private on Gallipoli, was commissioned and wounded three times on the Western Front, then returned to arms in 1939 as second-in-command of the 28th (Maori) Battalion. He is on the list for the sheer length of his ribbon bar: fourteen medals and honours, led by an OBE, across two wars and nearly two decades of Territorial command. He won no gallantry award.

14medals and honours
0of them for gallantry

His medals and honours

Every other medal and honour (14)

1914–15
1914-1915 Star1914-1915 · Egypt, GallipoliQualifying service: sailed with the Main Body (embarked 16 October 1914, reaching Egypt on 3 December 1914) and served in the Wellington Battalion on Gallipoli in 1915.
GEORGIVS V BRITT OMN REX ET IND IMP
British War Medal 1914-201914-1920One line: awarded for his NZEF service of 1914 to 1919 (Gallipoli and the Western Front).
Victory Medal1914-1919One line: the Allied Victory Medal for service in a theatre of war, 1914 to 1919.
1939-43
1939-1945 Star1939-1945 · Egypt, Greece, CreteOne line: qualified through operational service as second-in-command of the 28th (Maori) Battalion, sailing in May 1940 and serving in Egypt, Greece and Crete before he left the unit in October 1941.
AFRICA
Africa Star1940-1941 · Egypt and North AfricaOne line: service with the battalion in Egypt and the North African theatre in 1940-41.
THE DEFENCE MEDALGR
Defence Medal1939-1945One line: awarded for home-service duty, here his posting in New Zealand after he was invalided home (training depot, then 2nd Maori Battalion and the Maori Training Unit, 1942-44).
THE WAR MEDAL 1939-1945GR
War Medal 1939-19451939-1945One line: the general award for full-time service in the Second World War.
NEW ZEALAND WAR SERVICENZ
New Zealand War Service Medal1939-1945One line: the New Zealand medal for WW2 service, in his case both overseas and in New Zealand.
OBE
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Military Division1 January 1943 · New ZealandBertrand was named an Officer of the Military Division of the Order in the 1943 New Year Honours, listed in the gazette as Major (temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) George Frederick Bertrand of the New Zealand Military…
EFFICIENCY DECORATIONED
Efficiency Decoration (ED)undated (by 1956) · New ZealandOne line: awarded to Territorial officers for long and efficient service; he commanded the 1st Battalion Taranaki Regiment 1930-35.
VOLUNTEER OFFICERS DECORATIONVD
Colonial Auxiliary Forces Decorationunknown · New ZealandOne line: listed by the Cenotaph as a separate long-service decoration for officers of the colonial auxiliary forces.
LONG AND EFFICIENT SERVICENZ
New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medalunknown · New ZealandOne line: listed by the Cenotaph for long Territorial service.
TERRITORIAL SERVICENZ
New Zealand Territorial Service Medalunknown · New ZealandOne line: listed by the Cenotaph as a Territorial service medal.
GEORGIVS V SILVER JUBILEE 1935GR
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 19356 May 1935 · New Plymouth, TaranakiOne line: he was among Taranaki military recipients photographed receiving the Jubilee Medal at Pukekura Park on a Monday in May 1935.

His story

  1. Sails with the Main Body

    A Te Aute-educated teacher from Urenui, he enlisted as a private in the Wellington Infantry Battalion and embarked on 16 October 1914, reaching Egypt on 3 December.

    Source: Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph record C38446 (award list and embarkation data, read via api.aucklandmuseum.com)

  2. Gallipoli

    He served with the Wellington Battalion on Gallipoli (Wikipedia and the 1943 Taranaki Daily News profile both say he served in the last war; the Official History records three wounds across his service).

    Source: Wikipedia, George Bertrand; Official History of NZ in the Second World War: 28 (Maori) Battalion, ch.1 and footnote 2 (NZETC, read via National Library web archive)

  3. Commissioned and back overseas

    Embarked again on 20 August 1916 as a Second Lieutenant with J Company, 16th Reinforcements, arriving in England on 24 October 1916.

    Source: Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph record C38446 (award list and embarkation data, read via api.aucklandmuseum.com)

  4. Wounded in France

    A Taranaki paper reported in September 1917 that Lieutenant Bertrand, wounded on 20 August, was back in the firing line. This is probably him, though the report does not give a first name.

    Source: Taranaki Herald, 12 September 1917 (Papers Past TH19170912.2.7)

  5. Education officer, then home

    Reported in March 1919 as regimental education officer at Sling Camp; discharged on 23 November 1919 as a Lieutenant, and returned to teach at New Plymouth Boys' High School.

    Source: Taranaki Daily News, 18 March 1919 (Papers Past TDN19190318.2.25); Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph record C38446 (award list and embarkation data, read via api.aucklandmuseum.com)

  6. Commands the Taranaki Regiment

    Commanded the 1st Battalion, Taranaki Regiment, from 1930 until his term expired on 2 June 1935, and received the Jubilee Medal in May 1935.

    Source: Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1935 (TDN19350605.2.93) and 11 May 1935

  7. Second-in-command, 28 (Maori) Battalion

    Appointed Major and second-in-command in November 1939; embarked on the Aquitania in May 1940 (he was briefly commanding the battalion while its CO was OC Troops), and served in Egypt, Greece and Crete until October 1941. He was in hospital on Crete when the Germans took the island and was invalided home.

    Source: Official History of NZ in the Second World War: 28 (Maori) Battalion, ch.1 and footnote 2 (NZETC, read via National Library web archive); Taranaki Daily News, 4 January 1943

  8. Commands 2nd Maori Battalion and the Maori Training Unit

    Back in New Zealand he commanded the 2nd Maori Battalion and the Maori Training Unit; the OBE followed in the 1943 New Year Honours.

    Source: Official History of NZ in the Second World War: 28 (Maori) Battalion, ch.1 and footnote 2 (NZETC, read via National Library web archive); London Gazette issue 35841, supplement, 1 January 1943, p.9 (thegazette.co.uk)

Rank and insignia

The ranks he held, and the badge a soldier of that rank wore. These are simplified illustrations.

New Zealand Expeditionary Force 1914 to 1918 badge
PrivateOctober 1914No rank badge: a private soldier wore none
Second Lieutenantby August 1916Shoulder strap: one pip
Lieutenant1917 to November 1919Shoulder strap: two pips
Lieutenant Colonelby 1930; commanded Taranaki Regiment 1930-35 · Territorial, Reserve of OfficersShoulder strap: crown and one pip
MajorNovember 1939Shoulder strap: crown
Lieutenant Colonelby 1 January 1943 · temporaryShoulder strap: crown and one pip

His ships

Arawa or Limerick (HMNZT 7 or 10)Troopship1914 Main Body; Cenotaph is uncertain which ship
Navua (HMNZT 63)TroopshipAugust to October 1916, to Devonport (Cenotaph shows the vessel as unknown on one field)
Aquitania
AquitaniaTroopshipMay 1940 with the 28th (Maori) BattalionHospital Ship Aquitania · Ernest Brooks · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Afterwards

Bertrand went back to the classroom at New Plymouth Boys' High School after both wars, was a keen Rugby man (Taranaki representative in 1912-13) and sat on the Ngarimu Scholarship Fund Board. He died in Palmerston North on 25 July 1957 from injuries in a car crash and was buried at Te Henui Cemetery, New Plymouth. His grandchild, Georgina Beyer, was named after him.

Later awards, not counted here: OBE (1 January 1943); 1939-1945 Star; Africa Star; Defence Medal; War Medal 1939-1945; New Zealand War Service Medal.

The most decorated New ZealandersHonour your own soldier

His sign

This is the Service Record sign as we would make it from his record: his rank, name, regiment, number and date of embarkation. The medals on the sign are worked out automatically, so the medals listed above are the ones to rely on.

The Service Record for George Frederick Bertrand
The Service Record

Photograph

We haven’t hosted a photograph here

Rather than copy someone else’s image onto our own site, we’d rather send you to see it where it’s properly held: his full record at the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph.

Sources

What we could not confirm

SERVED WW1: yes, as a New Zealander (born Urenui; Main Body private 1914; Wellington Infantry; three times wounded). Nothing argues against listing him as a New Zealander of that war.

No gallantry award found: the Official History footnote (which lists decorations and m.i.d.) gives only OBE, ED; Victory Medal is plain on the Cenotaph, so no Mention in Despatches is counted. The OBE is a service honour, not a gallantry award.

Total of 14 follows the Cenotaph award list exactly (the Wikipedia ribbon bar shows the same 14). Only OBE (London Gazette), ED (Official History/obituary) and the Jubilee Medal (Papers Past photo caption) were corroborated; the campaign medals follow from his documented service; the other three long-service items are Cenotaph/Wikipedia only.

Doubt: 'Colonial Auxiliary Forces Decoration' sits oddly beside the ED, which replaced it in 1931 (he was commissioned only in 1916). If it is a duplicate of the ED the total is 13; if the NZ Long and Efficient Service Medal and Territorial Service Medal are also unreliable, the corroborated-only floor is 10.

The 1 January 1943 gazette entry shows no ED after his name, so the ED may date from after that; its date was not found.

Cenotaph shows a puzzling 'third embarkation' (April 1942, Prestwick) and a Maori Battalion 'Serial No 10' on the 28 Maori Battalion site; ignored as record noise.

Wounded Aug 1917 item (Taranaki Herald) names only 'Lieutenant Bertrand'; assumed to be George, not his brothers.

Noonans/other medal-group records, Puke Ariki and the NZ Gazette were not reachable (access blocked), so no actual medal-group record was seen.

Concept, design and execution by Unlimited Potential