Anzac Day: Uncle survived war but not killer flu

Eleanor Blackburn's uncle (far left of photo) died in the Spanish flu pandemic after managing to survive World War I. Photo / John Borren

After surviving two years of the war, Eleanor Blackburn's uncle died in 1918 in Gallipoli of the Spanish flu.

William Bews, eldest brother of Mrs Blackburn's father, was born in 1886 and worked on the family farm in Ngapara until he was recruited for the Canterbury Mounted Rifles in 1917.

Mr Bews was good with horses and for that reason had joined the mounted rifles, said Mrs Blackburn, of Greerton.

He also completed a number of sketches of horses, which the family still owned.

Mr Bews was sent to Palestine in June 1917 and remained there until the war ended.

"The sad bit is, he actually survived the war," Mrs Blackburn said. "He and some others were brought back to Gallipoli after the war to clean up the graves and he and some of the others died in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic."

He died on December 18, 1918, aged 22, and was buried at the Chanak Consular Cemetery in Turkey.

An obituary in the Oamaru Mail after his death said the Ngapara district was "swept with a wave of the deepest sympathy on Monday evening when news was received the Private Wm. Bews had died when on active service".

The notice said Mr Bews was one of Ngapara's 20-year-old recruits.

"The fact that his death has taken place after the cessation of hostilities and the probability of his early return home added to the sorrow of a very large circle of friends. His parents and family have the heartfelt sympathy of the entire community," the notice read.

After the war, the North Otago community decided to commemorate their fallen by planting oak trees in their honour.

One of these trees is planted near the farm where Mr Bews lived in Ngapara.

"When I was a child, my mother always made a wreath on Anzac Day that we used to take down to the tree."

About five years ago, Mrs Blackburn was contacted by a Waitaki Girls' High School student who was researching soldiers from the North Otago area for a school project.

The student chose Mr Bews because her grandmother lived near where he grew up, and she found his obituary.