A missing Kiwi soldier languished in a Sydney mental asylum for 12 years after World War I until his New Zealand flag tattoo helped identify him, a new book has revealed.
After the War: The RSA in New Zealand has been released to coincide with the centenary of the Returned Services Association (RSA).
The book's author Dr Stephen Clarke has meticulously recorded the history of what has often been a misunderstood organisation, but says the story of the missing soldier particularly stood out to him.
"I found the story of George McQuay from Taranaki, he'd gone missing in the battle of the Somme which was 100 years ago this year, and he'd wandered into an Australian hospital suffering from considerable shell shock," says Dr Clarke.
A young Harry McQuay before he left New Zealand to serve in World War One (Papers Past)
Mr McQuay, a Gallipoli veteran, was unable to speak properly or provide his name, and was sent to Australia where he spent the next 12 years living in a Sydney mental asylum, his mental state continuing to decline.
Staff there simply called him 'George Brown.'
All the while, his family back in Stratford thought he was missing, probably killed on the battlefield, and that his body had never been recovered for burial.
New Zealand's military authorities had actually classed him as a deserter, as there was no record of him meeting his death.
The RSA played a key role in helping to identify the Kiwi soldier.
Dr Clarke says: "It wasn't until 1928, when there was a major search for his family, helped by the RSA, the Australian Returned Services League (RSL) and the New Zealand newspaper The Truth that they actually found his family. They went over to Sydney to bring him back home. You can imagine what his family, and in particular his mother were feeling. ”
The moment Harry McQuay was reunited with his mother in 1928 (Papers Past)
And it was a particular tattoo of a flag on Mr McQuay's left arm that finally helped him be identified.
"A friend of his recognised a photo of McQuay and his unique tattoo," Dr Clarke says.
Sadly Mr McQuay, who came to be known as 'New Zealand's living unknown soldier', spent the rest of his life in and out of Porirua mental asylum until he died in 1953.
Newshub.
