William Thomas Beck
| William Thomas Beck, DSO, MID | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Billy" |
| Born |
7 May 1865 Castlemaine, Australia |
| Died | 15 January 1947 (aged 81) Wellington, New Zealand |
| Buried | Karori Cemetery, Wellington, New Zealand |
| Allegiance |
 New Zealand
|
| Service/branch |
 New Zealand Army
|
| Rank | Captain |
| Service number | 15/12 |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Dispatches 1914–15 Star British War Medal (1914–1920) Victory Medal with oak leaf |
William Thomas (Billy) Beck (7 May 1865 – 15 January 1947) was a New Zealand Army Officer and one of the first New Zealand soldiers to land on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
Born in Castlemaine, Australia on 7 May 1865, Beck was the son of Sarah Beck (Taylor) and her husband Richard Beck. Beck and his family settled in Dunedin, New Zealand shortly after his birth. Beck married Edith Chick on 8 June 1896, in Port Chalmers, New Zealand. They had three children during their marriage.
Beck was a Torpedoman Second Class in No 2 Service Company, Permanent Militia, Port Chalmers,in the 1890s. With the Garrison Torpedo Boat Corps abandoned by Imperial decree just after the tune of the century. Beck relocated to Auckland and by 1904 was employed by the Defence Stores Department as the Defence Storekeeper for the Northern District Stores Depot, Goal Reserve, Mount Eden, with the rank of Honorary Lieutenant in the New Zealand Staff Corps. In 1914 he was the Officer in charge of the Camp Ordnance for the Auckland Divisional Camp at Hautapu near Cambridge in April 1914. The Camp ran from 28 April to 11 May and he was responsible for managing store issued from the Auckland Defence Stores, including;
"66 indicating Flags, 80 Axes, 100 picks and handles, 800 water buckets, 800 wash basins, 82 picket ropes, 81 brooms, 5000 groundsheets, 13 roberts cookers, 13 horse troughs, 20 overall suits, 1320yards galvanised iron piping, a 2000gal water tank, 1 large swimming bath, 11 flagstaffs,500 nose bags, 566 pairs of boots, 455 Mattress covers,500 blankets".
As the Defence Storekeeper for Auckland he was soon granted the honorary rank of Captain and attached the New Zealand Staff Corps. On the declaration of World War I, Beck was mobilised deployed with he main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, departing Wellington on 3 December 1914 on the troopship TSS Mauganui. Once in Suez, Egypt he was then attached to the New Zealand & Australian Headquarters Ordnance (NZ & Aust HQ Ordnance) of the New Zealand and Australian Division as the Deputy Assistant Director of Ordnance Services.
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