1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment (New Zealand Army)
Date Of Birth:
28/03/1892
Died:
11/01/1918 (Killed in Action)
Age:
25
Summary
David Crooks Mitchell was the son of David and Annie Mitchell. He was born in the Cookstown area on 28th March 1892. They lived in Dunmore, Lissan. They were a farming family. David and his oldest brother William emigrated to New Zealand. Prior to enlisting, David was a farm labourer. He was living in Marine, Clinton, Otago, at the very southern point of the South Island. Private David Crooks Mitchell was serving with the No 1 Company of the 1st Battalion of the Canterbury Infantry Regiment when he was killed in action in Belgium on 11 January 1918.
The New Zealand Memorial to the Missing is located within Buttes New British Cemetery, which is 8 Kms east of Ieper town centre, on the Lange Dreve, a road leading from the Meenseweg (N8) connecting Ieper to Menen. From Ieper town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main crossroads directly over which begins the Meenseweg. 4.5 Kms along the Meenseweg lies the left hand turning onto Oude Kortrijkstraat. 2 Kms along the Oude Kortrijkstraat the road crosses the A19 motorway. Immediately after this bridge is the left hand turning onto the Lotegatstraat, which borders Polygon Wood. 800 metres along the Lotegatstraat is the right hand turning onto Lange Dreve. The Cemetery is located 1 Km along the Lange Dreve on the right hand side of the road.
