The Wartime Memories Project - The Great War

Pte. Michael James Scannell New Zealand Expeditionary Force 13th Company 1st Canterbury Btn.


Great War>


This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.


If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.



    Site Home

    Great War Home

    Search

    Add Stories & Photos

    Library

    Help & FAQs

 Features

    Allied Army

    Day by Day

    RFC & RAF

    Prisoners of War

    War at Sea

    Training for War

    The Battles

    Those Who Served

    Hospitals

    Civilian Service

    Women at War

    The War Effort

    Central Powers Army

    Central Powers Navy

    Imperial Air Service

    Library

    World War Two

 Submissions

    Add Stories & Photos

    Time Capsule

 Information

    Help & FAQs



    Glossary

    Our Facebook Page

    Volunteering

    News

    Events

    Contact us

    Great War Books

    About


Advertisements

World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment

213528

Pte. Michael James Scannell

New Zealand Expeditionary Force 13th Company 1st Canterbury Btn.

from:Lyalldale, South Canterbury, NZ

(d.7th Jun 1917)

Michael Scannell was my grandfather's cousin. My grandfather (Dan Brosnahan), Michael and Michael's brother Charlie Scannell had their photograph taken together in uniform, presumably before they all went off to war. Of the three, only Dan Brosnahan survived the war. He served with the Imperial Camel Corps in Palestine and was wounded in the second battle of Amman. He also survived the influenza epidemic in 1918. Michael on the other hand was killed in the attack on Messines on 7 June 1917. Charles had died just a couple of weeks earlier in South Africa, having fallen down a hold on the troop ship en route to Europe and being put off in Durban due to his injuries. He died there.

Michael Scannell was a railway porter in Timaru when he enlisted in May 1916. He came from the small farming district of Lyalldale just south of Timaru and was born 5 February 1888. He served with the NZ Railway Engineers as a territorial before transferring to the Canterbury Regiment. On his enlistment record the medical officer wrote "a very suitable man". I have never heard any stories about Michael's character from the family but he looks like a really solid bloke in the photograph and the enlistment annotation is unusual in my experience.

Michael went overseas with the 16th Reinforcements and was a member of the 13th Company, 1st Canterbury Battalion, 2nd Brigade when he participated in the attack on Messines. He has no known grave. On Anazc Day 2013 I had the privilege of visiting the New Zealand Memorial to the Missing at Messines and paying my respects. I don't think any members of the family had been there before. My connection with Michael has made Messines a special place to me and I am very pleased to support your efforts to commemorate all those who perished in the battle there in 1917.









Related Content:







Can you help us to add to our records?

The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them


Did your relative live through the Great War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial?

If so please let us know.

Do you know the location of a Great War "Roll of Honour?"

We are very keen to track down these often forgotten documents and obtain photographs and transcriptions of the names recorded so that they will be available for all to remember.

Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice.




Celebrate your own Family History

Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Great War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc.

Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.














The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers.

This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.

If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.


Hosted by:

The Wartime Memories Project Website

is archived for preservation by the British Library





Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved -

We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.