Remembering the ANZACs from St John’s College: Neale Fitzgerald Eager

Remembering Neale Fitzgerald Eager of St John’s College

Born: 6^th November 1887.

Died: 1920 in Suez, Egypt. Died of exposure, aged 32.

Buried: Unknown.

Originally, very little was known about Neale (spelt ‘Neil’ on the memorial in the college chapel) Fitzgerald Eager, even being noted as ‘missing’ by the St. John’s College Trust Board. We know he was enrolled as a student here at St John’s College between 1911 and 1913 and that he embarked on the troopship Star of India on October 16^th, 1916.

However, recently digitised service records show that he actually survived the war. The occupation listed on his form was ‘Divinity Student’ and was then changed to ‘Chemist’. He was discharged from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and commissioned into the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. He died of exposure while stationed in Suez, Egypt in 1920.

Related Links and Articles on Eric Fitzgerald Eager

• Neale Fitzgerald Eager’s digitised World War One military record.

100th Anniversary Display Note

To mark the 100^th anniversary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli an exhibition was held at the John Kinder Theological Library displaying books and archives, as well as biographies of the St John’s Theological College students who served and were killed during World War One.  

These biographies will be posted on this blog over the next week including some significant discoveries we have made while researching these students.