Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

The Gallipoli Campaign was fought on the Gallipoli peninsula 25th April 1915 to 9th January 1916. in a failed attempt to defeat Turkey by seizing the Dardanelles and capturing Istanbul. Ill-conceived and planned, the initial effort by the Royal Navy failed to force passage through the Dardanelles by sea power alone. It was then realised that a land force was needed to support the project by suppressing the Turkish mobile artillery batteries. By the time all was ready the Turks were well aware and well prepared. Despite amazing heroics on the day of the landings only minor beachheads were achieved and over the succeeding 8 months little progress was made. Eventually the beachheads were evacuated in a series of successful ruses.

Despite Gallipoli rightly becoming a national source of pride to Australians and New Zealanders, far more British casualties were sustained, and these days the substantial French contribution is almost forgotten.

Detail :

12/32 Lieutenant Thomas Gerald Norman Screaton, Main Body, North Auckland Company. Killed in action at The Daisy Patch, Helles, on 8th May 1915, aged 23. No Known Grave.

Auckland Weekly News 22nd July, 1915: "Killed in the 2nd Battle of Krithia: 'Death of Lieutenant Screaton'

Reported hospital interview with Sergeant W.J. Brydon, of Dargaville, NZ,twice severely wounded at Cape Helles, 8th May 1915.

"Did we have a hot time?" said Sgt. Brydon. "By Jove, we did. Lead and shrapnel were flying around pretty thickly, and as soon as we got into the open we had artillery fire on to us." Sergeant Brydon was alongside of Lieutenant T.G.N. Screaton, of Warkworth, when the latter was shot.

"We were lying down taking cover," he said, "and I was between Lieut. Screaton and Sergeant Gasparich, of the 15th, North Aucklands. Lieutenant Screaton, who was only about three feet from me, was shot through the head and killed, death being instantaneous. Sergeant Gasparich was afterwards wounded in the forearm."

In the same newspaper a letter from General Godley to Mr Arthur M. Myers, dated 21st May, Headquarters, NZ&A Division, Anzac Cove, (referring, it seems, mainly to the Krithia battles), reads in part:

"I am sorry to say the casualties among officers were desperately heavy.Young Steadman - Colonel Steadman's son - young Carpenter, a very nice boy named Screaton, who commanded my escort for some time, Morgan and Reid were all killed, and prior to this Dodson, Flower, Richardson andAllen had been killed. It is curious that Allen and Carpenter, who, you may remember, went to Duntroon but were returned because they could not quite reach the standard required, should have proved their worth so thoroughly and died such gallant soldiers' deaths.

Plugge was again wounded, as also were Harrowell, Dawson, Bartlett, West,Macfarlane, Weir, Fletcher and Craig. Prior to this Stuckey, Alderman,MacDonald, Fraser, Frater, Woolley, Westmacott, Peake, Morpeth and Baddeley had also been wounded."

See also: Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph.
See also: New Zealand War Graves Project.

Masonic :

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley