NEW ZEALAND Service: 219 days; Commenced duty 19/10/1916 age 38 6/12 yrs; height 5ft 8"; Complexion Medium; eyes blue; Hair brown; Occ. labourer; Unit - NZ Machine Gun Squad; Religion - C of E; Single; (no marriage date found) Address of mother - Mrs H J Guildford, 567 Cargill Rd, Sth Dunedin Admitted from Featherston to Dunedin hospital on Nov 10, 1916,  Discharged 14/11/1916

SEND-OFF AT DUNEDIN: Otago Witness: 25 Oct 1916; The Dunedin detachment of the 22nd  Reinforcements, along with the Invercargill and Milton groups, were given a civic farewell at their departure for the north yesterday. The Dunedin men paraded at the Kensington Drill Hall, where they were addressed by Colonel E. R. Smith V.D., Mrs J. K. Macfie, and Mrs A. G. Fenwick. The St. Kilda Band led the men from Kensington through the streets giving an opportunity for the general public to see the men and give them a fitting farewell and provided the music at the station. The crowd at the station was large, despite a cold wind, and on reaching tho enclosure the men got a rousing reception and were heartily cheered. After the singing of the National Anthem the Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark) delivered his farewell address. He said it was two years since the citizens had bidden farewell to the first lot of men who left Dunedin to carry the flag of New Zealand to the battle front. Little did they think as they saw the men marching through the streets that they would be present two years later to say good-bye to the Twenty-second Reinforcements. They did not then realise that hundreds of the bravest and best would be leaving to take their share in the battle for right and Empire. The call that rang out two years ago was still ringing through New Zealand. It was a call for men to go and stand shoulder to shoulder with the manhood of the Empire and our Allies in the struggle to crush the devilish Prussian militarism, to uphold our honour, to preserve our homes, and to maintain those ideals of liberty and justice which were our common and sacred cause. We were far from the scene of conflict, living in comfort and safety because of the navy, but none the less it was our battle as much as England's that was being fought. It was true that New Zealand had done her part nobly. All honour and glory to tho loyal and devoted men who had written deep in the annals of our nation the story of valour, of courage, and of heroic endurance. They were bidding good-bye to another band of courageous, strong-hearted sons of New Zealand, who were going to match the glory of their comrades. The people were confident that they would exhibit the same spirit of calm, unconscious heroism and inflexible resolution as the men of Anzac. We realised the great sacrifice they were making for us, and we gave them our grateful thanks and admiration. They were leaving their homes their means of livelihood, and their loved ones to stand by Britain in the hour of her bitter need. The Mayor dwelt on the high objects for which the Empire was fighting, and for which her volunteers went out to battle. All recognised that it was not a war with an honourable foe that had the justioe and patriotism of a truly civilised people; it was a war with mutilators of women, murderers of children, torturers of harmless non-combatants - Huns, vandals, and treaty-breakers. It was a fight to a finish, and the Hun would be brought to the dust and would learn that the "Day" he boasted of had come. Addressing the departing men, the Mayor said that wo left our honour in their hands, knowing that they would play the game and maintain the splendid prestige of the men of our land who had written their names on the roll of fame. Their devotion made those who had to stay at home resolve with grim determination to play their part and forget their own selfish interests, and to work whole-heartedly for the day when victory would come to our arms so that we could with honest hearts greet the men when they came back. He wished them God-speed. Major Colvin, of the Salvation Army, before offering prayer, delivered a short address, in the course of which he said that everyone felt too deeply for words to express what the manhood of the dominion were doing in offering themselves voluntarily for service and for sacrifice. Many people wished they had the vigorous manhood that would enable them to take their place among the fighters. The men would be exposed to dangers such as we could little comprehend. They would find themselves in surroundings and among scenes such as the world had never witnessed before. He wanted to say that there was a Providence that looked after every one qf us, that hedged us round and about with protections that wo little rocked of; and that God had a plan of life for every man standing there ready to go to the front, and in the providence of His will would protect, guard, and care for every man leaving his home for the fight. Might the Lord put His hand on every one of them, and bring them back safe to their homes and loved ones.

The men marched on to the station amidst enthusiastic cheering, and were soon on their way to enter the camps that have already received so many recruits and sent them forth with the training so necessary for the strenuous days that lie before them in the fields of Europe. Among the names of the men who left from the Dunedin group:  Colwyn Cowan Guildford.

Embarkation Unit: 23rd Reinforcements, Mounted Rifles; Embarkation 19 April 1917 from Wellington, New Zealand  on transport Moeraki then transfer at Port Sydney for Suez

Overseas 2 yrs 116 days; discharged 19/11/1919 - no longer physically fit on account of illness (Gastroenteritus ie Trench fever) Intended address 22 Council St, St Kilda, Dunedin Theatres of operation 1917 - 1919 Cairo Egypt - (much of the time at  Kantan, Cairo was unwell)

Return to NZ: Evening Star: Return from Egypt by the Ulimaroa - Due at Auckland 8 Aug1919: C C Guildford 35920 South Dunedin;  (WW1 Army Records online here)