Topic: JENKINS, William (Bill) Robert
Topic type:
Letters from World War 1
Bill (William) Jenkins came from Westport. His parents owned a farm at Sergeants Hill.
Bill’s older brother Ted was already in the army and Bill wanted to be there too. He was too young to enlist without parental permission. Much against Annie’s wishes, Robert signed his permission for Bill to enlist.
Ted was gassed in the war and Bill was killed. His Military Personnel File is available on Archway New Zealand.
The related images tell of Bill's experience of the War through the letters that he sent home as well as some photographs. His father Robert and mother Annie Jenkins held the letters that were sent by Bill.
When Ted was demobbed from the Armed Forces, his parents moved into town and left Ted to run the farm. When Robert and Annie died, the letters were passed on to Bill’s sister Catherine.
Catherine suffered a number of strokes which left her an invalid and when her husband died, her daughter Beverly took over her mother's care, and the letters came into her possession. Bev, her husband Gordon and their children, plus Catherine moved to Taupo in 1973.
Bev’s daughter Robyn now has the letters in her care and has kindly allowed them to be shared on Kete Taupo.
