Eugene Tennant “Ted” Russell
Private · NZ #7381 · Heavy Section
| Rank | Private |
|---|---|
| Service number | NZ #7381 |
| Patrol | Heavy Section |
| Regiment | 27th (Machine Gun) Battalion |
| Known as | “Ted” |
| Record | https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C141013 |
What this roll records
ENLISTED AT INVERCARGILL, 12 SEPTEMBER 1939. He appears as “Eugene Tennant Russell” in the Southland Times list of the previous day’s enlistments for the Special Force, printed on 13 September 1939 under “Officers Among Volunteers — Yesterday’s List In Invercargill”. The paper says that where no address is given the recruit is a resident of the city, and none is given against his name, so he was living in Invercargill. This fits the card at every point it touches: he is on Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 1, which is the First Echelon, and the full forenames match the Cenotaph exactly. IDENTIFICATION IS BY NAME AND PLACE, NOT BY SERVICE NUMBER — an enlistment list carries no numbers — but “Eugene Tennant Russell” occurs only once in the whole of Papers Past. THE CUTTING IS NOT REPRODUCED on this site: it is a column of about 180 names, only one of them a man of this roll. Source: Southland Times, Issue 23921, 13 September 1939, page 6, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).
LRP Heavy Section: "Pte E.T. Russell" in Heavy Section group photo. Brendan O'Carroll, "The Long Range Desert Group in North Africa".
On original LRP Roll (5 Dec 1940): Heavy Section — Dvr Hvy Sec; R Patrol LRDG; returned unit unfit. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).
Cenotaph record linked. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
On the R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941: Private Russell E.T., 7381. Source: Brendan O'Carroll, 'R Patrol, Long Range Desert Group' (R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941). Master records patrol 'Heavy Section', a later posting; R Patrol was his 31 Mar 1941 assignment.
Labourer in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
Full name Eugene Tennant. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as Private. This agrees with the rank held on this card. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C141013.
See him in the full roll →Where this comes from
- AKA added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll (missing information).
- LRDG Nominal Roll, 28 Dec 1940 – Jan 1941 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy)
- Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 1, p.158. Unit history: Kay, R. (1958). 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion.
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Not By Strength But By Guile