Lieutenant Colonel George Mitchell DSO (1877–1939) was an

Independent Liberal Independent Liberal is a description allowed in politics to denote party affiliation. It is used to designate a politician as a liberal, yet independent of the official Liberal Party of a country. Those parties were the Liberal Party of Canada, ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for in New Zealand. He also served with the

New Zealand Military Forces , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

George Mitchell was born in Balclutha in 1877. He was a member of the Balclutha Mounted Rifles in 1898.The New Zealand Roll of Honour, p.751

Military service

Boer War

Mitchell served with the 1st and 8th New Zealand Contingents in South Africa 1899–1902. Mitchell was awarded the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with

relief of Kimberley The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, Transvaal besieged the diam ...

Paardeberg The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain") was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley. Lord Methuen adv ...

, Driefontein, Transvaal and South Africa 1902 Clasps.

First World War

Following the outbreak of the

, Mitchell volunteered for the 1st

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

for service aboard. He was a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the Southland Regiment and commanding officer of the 3rd Otago Reserve Battalion from 1917 to 1919, reaching the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. Mitchell saw action in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and France. He received the DSO in 1918 for distinguished service in the field (France and Flanders). He was awarded the Serbian Order of Karageorge, 4th Class with Swords; 1914-1915 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal; Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal; and NZ Volunteer Service Medal. Mitchell was also the officer in charge of conscientious objector

Archibald Baxter Archibald McColl Learmond Baxter (13 December 1881 – 10 August 1970) was a New Zealand socialist, pacifist and conscientious objector. Early life Baxter was born at Saddle Hill, Otago, on 13 December 1881, to John Baxter and Mary McColl. Hi ...

and responsible for punishing him with Field Punishment No.1.

Political career

Mitchell was the sensation of the defeating the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MP,

Bob Semple Robert Semple (21 October 1873 – 31 January 1955) was a union leader and later Minister of Public Works for the first Labour Government of New Zealand. He is also known for creating the Bob Semple tank. Early life He was born in Sofala, New ...

, who had won the electorate in the previous year at a . Mitchell served for one term until the , when he was defeated by Labour's

Robert McKeen Robert McKeen (12 July 1884 – 5 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Early life He was born in 1884 in Edinburgh and received his education in West Calder, West Loth ...

. After the end of his parliamentary career, Mitchell served on the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

for two periods, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1927 to 1931. He also served on the

Wellington Harbour Board (Strong but true) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , founder = , founding_location = , dissolved = , merger = , type ...

from 1921 to 1929 serving as its chair from 1923 to 1925.

Later life

He was the President of the Returned Soldiers' Association (RSA), an executive member of the War Relief Association and sat on the Wellington College Board of Governors.The Dominion, 18 March 1939 Mitchell died 16 March 1939 in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in a private hospital, aged 62. He was survived by his second wife, and five children from his first marriage. He was buried at

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it received New Zealand's first cremato ...

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, George 1877 births 1939 deaths Independent MPs of New Zealand New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Wellington City Councillors New Zealand Companions of the Distinguished Service Order New Zealand military personnel of the Second Boer War New Zealand military personnel of World War I Burials at Karori Cemetery Unsuccessful candidates in the 1922 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates People from Balclutha, New Zealand Wellington Harbour Board members