“Robert Stuart Ferguson, of the Otago Regiment, died from injuries received when in the act of plunging into the water he appeared to slip, and struck his head on some submerged object in the Waimakariri River at Courtenay on December 11. This was the verdict of the coroner (Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M.), given at the inquest held in Christchurch. Dr A. B. Pearson, pathologist at the Christchurch Public Hospital, gave medical evidence. He had found signs of laceration of the spinal cord and fracture of the spine when he made a post-mortem examination. Captain N. McD. Matheson, of B Company, Otago Regiment, described the bathing parade at the Waimakariri River. He said he had given instructions to the men that there was to be no diving. The water was discoloured that day. Later he heard that Ferguson had been injured and sent for an ambulance. Ferguson was a well disciplined man and not the sort to disobey instructions, witness said.” [Otago Daily Times, Issue 24489, 24 December 1940, Page 9]