First Contingent 1899 · Boer War · Auckland volunteers, later Lieutenant
Lieutenant Donald Bodle
Donald Bodle was an Auckland farmer, a corporal in the Auckland Mounted Rifles section of the First Contingent, who sailed on the Waiwera in October 1899. He returned home on the Harlech Castle in December 1900 and was greeted at the Auckland wharf by his friends from the Manurewa troop of the Auckland Mounted Rifles.
He stayed with the volunteer forces and by 1908 was a lieutenant in the Auckland Garrison Artillery. The Cenotaph shows him as a lieutenant in the Auckland Naval Artillery Volunteers and says he did not embark during the First World War. He died in 1955, aged 80, and is buried at Waikumete Cemetery.
His story
An Auckland farmer
Donald was born on 1 January 1875, the son of George Edward Bodle, and farmed before the war. His next of kin was a Mrs E. J. Bodle of Totara Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. He belonged to the Manurewa troop (No. 2) of the Auckland Mounted Rifles.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34794; Papers Past, New Zealand Herald 24 Dec 1900Chosen for the First Contingent
The Auckland papers listed Corporal D. W. Bodle among the Auckland section of the First Contingent, giving his age as 24 and noting he was a first-class shot. He embarked on the Waiwera at Wellington on 21 October 1899 as a corporal in 1 Company, number 12.
Source: Papers Past, Auckland Star 26 Oct 1899 and New Zealand Herald 9 Oct 1899; Online Cenotaph record C34794South Africa
The Cenotaph lists Kimberley and Driefontein among his campaigns and the Transvaal as his clasp. The sources we could read do not give any individual action, wound or promotion for him.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34794Home on the Harlech Castle
The New Zealand Herald of 24 December 1900 says Corporal Bodle returned by the Harlech Castle, came on from Sydney in the Moana, and reached Auckland from Wellington by the Mararoa on Sunday 16 December. Relatives and members of the Auckland Mounted Rifles' Manurewa division met him at the wharf.
Source: Papers Past, New Zealand Herald 24 Dec 1900; Online Cenotaph record C34794Volunteer soldier and lieutenant
The Cenotaph records him as a sergeant in the Auckland Mounted Rifles and later a lieutenant in the Auckland Naval Artillery Volunteers. In November 1908 the Auckland Star reported that Lieutenant Bodle of No. 1 Auckland Garrison Artillery had passed the examinations for his commission; the report gives only the surname, so the link to Donald is probable rather than certain.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34794; Papers Past, Auckland Star 25 Nov 1908Home service
The Cenotaph lists him with the New Zealand Garrison Artillery, Auckland Division (Territorial Forces), and states plainly that he did not embark during the First World War.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34794Death
Donald Bodle died on 8 July 1955, aged 80, and is buried at Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland. No cause of death or grave reference is recorded.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34794
Rank and insignia
The rank he held, and the badge a soldier of that rank wore. These are simplified illustrations.
His medals
“Documented” means a source we name says he received it. “Listed on the Online Cenotaph” means the museum’s record lists the medal but we could not confirm it elsewhere. “Entitled” means his service dates qualified him, but we have not seen a record of the medal itself. The drawings are simplified illustrations.
His ships
Afterwards
Donald Bodle remained in the volunteer and Territorial forces after the war and reached commissioned rank, but we found no record of any overseas service in 1914-18. He died in 1955 and lies in Waikumete Cemetery. Little else about his private life is recorded in the sources we could reach: no marriage, children or occupation after 1899 are documented.
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 from the embarkation date, so the medals listed above are the ones to rely on.
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
- Donald William Bodle, Online Cenotaph, Auckland War Memorial Museum.
- Papers Past: New Zealand Herald, 9 Oct 1899 (The Chosen Fifty)
- Papers Past: Auckland Star, 26 Oct 1899 (The Auckland Section)
- Papers Past: Evening Star, 24 Oct 1899 (contingent list)
- Papers Past: New Zealand Herald, 24 Dec 1900 (Returning Troopers)
- Papers Past: Auckland Star, 25 Nov 1908 (Volunteer and Defence Notes)
What we could not confirm
Thin record: no individual actions, wounds, promotion dates, occupation after 1899, marriage or children found. No cause of death or grave position.
The Cenotaph's Transvaal entry '24 May 1900 - 31 May 1902' is the standard clasp date range and does not describe his own service; he was home by 16 December 1900.
The 1908 'Lieut. Bodle, No. 1 A.G.A.' report gives only a surname; the Cenotaph's 'Lieutenant, Auckland Naval Artillery Volunteers' supports it but is undated.
Age at embarkation: Auckland Star says 21 and the Herald 24 (OCR); 24 fits the 1 January 1875 birth date.
The Cenotaph rank 'Sergeant, Auckland Mounted Rifles' is undated.
No Papers Past obituary found for 1955 (coverage ends before then). Archives NZ file R20524471 could not be opened (JavaScript catalogue).
Ship name: Cenotaph spells 'Harleck Castle'; the Herald spells 'Harlech Castle'.