Donald James “Shorty” McInnes
Lance Corporal · NZ #9651 · T Patrol · MID
| Rank | Lance Corporal |
|---|---|
| Service number | NZ #9651 |
| Patrol | T Patrol |
| Regiment | NZMF (Inf) |
| Known as | “Shorty” |
| Died | July 1943 |
| Honours | MID |
| Campaign medals | 1939-45 Star, Africa Star (8th Army clasp), War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal |
| POW / KIA | Died by accidental drowning on active service at Perth (buried Perth War Cemetery, Nedlands, Western Australia (J.B.3.)) |
| Record | https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C29432 |
What this roll records
The Military Medal formerly shown in this card’s honours field has been removed in August 2026. No source for it was ever recorded here, and the two authorities that cover New Zealand men of the LRDG both decline to give him one: Brendan O’Carroll’s biographical list in “The Kiwi Scorpions” names a single McInnes Military Medal, that of Sgt I. H. McInnes, and carries no entry for this man; and his own Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record gives him the Mentioned in Despatches and his campaign medals with no Military Medal among them. The likely route of the error is that both men served on the Murzuk raid of 11 January 1941 and the Military Medal awarded for that action went to Ian Hamilton McInnes, NZ #1052, whose recommendation survives at Kew as WO 373/17/450 in his own full name. His Mention in Despatches is untouched and stands.
On original LRP Roll (5 Dec 1940): T — Fitter; returned unit; PW Bardia; rejoined unit. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).
Full name Donald James. Aged 33 at death. Buried/commemorated: Perth War Cemetery, Nedlands, Western Australia (J.B.3.). Diesel operator (bulldozer) in civilian life. Embarked/served with 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion. Son of John McInnes and Margaret McInnes (nee Chapman) of Papanui. A DSM incorrectly recorded in a 1943 Weekly News portrait was later corrected. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
The manner of his death, from his Online Cenotaph record. This card gave it only as July 1943: he died of ACCIDENTAL DROWNING WHILST ON ACTIVE SERVICE, at Perth in Western Australia, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission dating it between 2 and 8 July 1943. He was 33. His last rank and unit were LANCE CORPORAL, New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, 15 Light Aid Detachment — not the 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion he embarked with. Besides the war grave at Perth already recorded here, he is remembered on a family grave memorial at Waimairi Cemetery, Grahams Road, Christchurch. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C29432.
See him in the full roll →Where this comes from
- Missing info added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll.
- AKA added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll (missing information).
- Honours & campaign medals from Online Cenotaph: MID, 1939-45 Star, Africa Star (8th Army clasp), War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
- Murzuk Raid roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy)
- LRDG Nominal Roll, 28 Dec 1940 – Jan 1941 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy) — roll rank: Private
- Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 1, p.112. Unit history: Kay, R. (1958). 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion. External links: Commonwealth War Graves Commission: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2249549 Also cited: Information kindly provided by family.
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Not By Strength But By Guile