William Addison enlisted as a Private in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (22nd Reinforcements Auckland Infantry Regiment, A Company) and sailed to England aboard the Aparima on 16 February 1917.
Addison was wounded in France and was treated at Brockenhurst, the No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital in Hampshire, before returning to New Zealand and completing his recuperation in Rotorua.
He married Florence Peebles at Whanganui in June 1919, and the couple settled in Addison’s home town of Waimana where they farmed for the rest of his life. Their property in Raroa Road was known as ‘Pinehill’ and later renamed ‘The Helm’.
