Edward Walter Clervaux Chaytor.

Edward Chaytor was born in Motueka on 21 June 1868. He was the son of John Clervaux Chaytor and Emma Chaytor nee Fearon. John Chaytor’s family had farmed ‘Marshlands” in the Wairau area in Marlborough since the 1880’s.1 The Fearon family was a pioneering Motueka family and John and Emma build the Motueka homestead called ‘Northwood’. 2

Edward boarded at Nelson College between 1880 and 1884. After College he farmed the family run at Spring Creek, near Blenheim. On 17 October 1898 he married a widow, Louisa Jane Hiley at Spring Creek. They had a family of three children. 3

In 1886, two years after he left school, Edward joined the Marlborough Hussars, which later became the Marlborough Mounted Rifles. He volunteered in 1900 for the “Rough Riders,” the 3rd Contingent of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, and served in the South African War. He distinguished himself in action on 26 May at Reit Keil and after being shot in the leg, was invalided home in 1901. In 1902 he returned to South Africa as commander, at the rank of Brevet Lieutenant, of the South Island Regiment. 4

Back in New Zealand after the war ended, Edward was appointed Major 1st Battalion, Nelson Mounted Rifle Volunteers. This post he gave up shortly after as he was appointed Assistant Adjutant General for the Defence Department in 1902. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1906 and attended the British Army Staff College in 1907, being the first New Zealander to do so. In 1910 he was appointed Director of Military Training and Education. By 1911 he was promoted to full Colonel and was appointed Adjutant General in July 1914. 5

When war broke out Edward was responsible for the dispatch of the Samoan Contingent 29 August 1914, and for raising the Main Body that departed on 16 October 1914. Both tasks he accomplished speedily and effectively. 6

He enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on 1 September 1914, from his address at Broad Street, Palmerston North, with the Main Body of the NZEF and departed 16 October 1914 as a Colonel. 7

The theatres of war Edward served in were Egyptian 1914-16, Balkan 1915, Western Europe 1915, and Egyptian Expeditionary Forces 1916-1918. 8

Overseas Edward was Assistant Adjutant for the ANZAC Division, under Godley. He was wounded twice in 1915. The second wound required a hospital stay at the Royal Free Hospital in London. 9

In November 1915 Edward Chaytor was given command of the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade in Egypt and was to remain in Egypt as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (E.E.F). When the New Zealand forces departed for England early in 1916, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles remained behind. By November 1916, he was promoted to Brigadier General having held that position in a temporary capacity since December 1915. He reported to Australian Major General Harvey Chauvel and the two men established a good working relationship.10

Nearly 18000 New Zealanders served with the E.E.F. in Egypt, Palestine and Jordan. Edward Chaytor’s focus was on thorough training of the men but he was also innovative and he was the first to use aerial reconnaissance planes over the desert in July 1916. Edward effectively took Rafah from the Turks in the final battle of the Sinai Campaign when he ignored orders and pressed on, thus seizing the town. By January 1917 the Sinai in Egypt was clear of Turkish forces.11

By April 1917 Edward Chaytor commanded the Desert Column, as a Major General in command of the ANZAC Mounted Division. On 16 , he was given an extra division size force called “Chaytor Force”. This “Chaytor Force” captured Amman in Jordan on 25 September 1918. He was discharged on 14 December 1919. On his return to Wellington in 1919, Edward Chaytor was appointed General Officer in Command New Zealand Military Forces. He retired from this position in 1924.12

He was mentioned in dispatches seven times and was awarded the following: Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (KCMC) Knight Commander of the (KCVO) Companion of the Most Honourable (CB) The Order of the Nile, 2nd class The Order of the White Eagle, 3rd class

He was knighted in 1918 for his wartime services. He returned to live in London, England until his death on 15 June 1939.13

My thanks to Mike Wicksteed, author of the Chaytor biography in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biographies, for much of this information.

Endnotes 1 Wicksteed, Mike. Chaytor Edward Walter Clervaux 2 Coralie Smith, Motueka & Districts Historical Society 3 Wicksteed, Mike. Chaytor Edward Walter Clervaux 4 Wicksteed, Mike. Chaytor Edward Walter Clervaux 5 Wicksteed, Mike. Chaytor Edward Walter Clervaux 6 Wicksteed, Mike. Chaytor Edward Walter Clervaux 7 Chaytor, Edward. Cenotaph Database Record. 8 Chaytor, Edward. Military Personnel Record 9 Chaytor, Edward. Military Personnel Record 10 Wicksteed, Mike. Chaytor Edward Walter Clervaux 11 Wicksteed, Mike. Chaytor Edward Walter Clervaux 12 Wicksteed, Mike. Chaytor Edward Walter Clervaux 13 Chaytor, Edward. Military Personnel Record. Decorations

Sources

Chaytor, Edward. Military Personnel record, Archives New Zealand, URL: http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/35494.detail?Ordinal=1&c_s urname_search=chaytor&c_firstname_search=edward , accessed 5 November 2013

Mike Wicksteed. ‘Chaytor, Edward Walter Clervaux’, from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 6 June 2013, URL: www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/chaytor , accessed 15 November 2013

Chaytor, Edward. Cenotaph Database record, Auckland War Memorial Museum, URL: http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/35494.detail?Ordinal=15&c- su , accessed 5 November 2013

Motueka and Districts Historical Association, Coralie Smith research, Feb 2014.

This researched Biography was compiled by Anna Wilkinson, Nelson Provincial Museum, in 2014.