Charles Mackesy
Colonel Charles Ernest Randolph Mackesy CMG, CBE, DSO (9 January 1861 – 20 November 1925) was a New Zealand military leader and farmer.
Charles Ernest Randolph Mackesy | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 January 1861 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 20 November 1925 (aged 64) Whangarei, New Zealand |
| Allegiance | New Zealand |
| Service/ | New Zealand Military Forces |
| Years of service | 1900–1919 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands held | Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment (1914–17) 11th (North Auckland) Mounted Rifles (1911–14) |
| Battles/wars | First World War
|
| Awards | Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (3) |
Born in 1861 in Ireland, Mackesy moved to New Zealand in the 1890s and took up farming in Whangarei. A soldier in the Volunteer Force, he volunteered for service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) on the outbreak of the First World War. He was commander of Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment, serving briefly at Gallipoli, and more substantially during the campaign in the Sinai and Palestine. From April 1917 he carried out administrative roles for the remainder of the war, apart from periods of leave. Discharged from the NZEF in late 1919 he returned to his farm in New Zealand. He died of heart failure in 1925.