Profile

PIERCE, George Henry
(Service number 78584)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 16 March 1888 Place of Birth Orari, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date 20 July 1917 Age 29 years 4 months
Address at Enlistment Geraldine, New Zealand
Occupation Farmer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Married
Next of Kin Mrs Elizabeth Rudd Pierce (wife), Geraldine, New Zealand
Religion Church of England
Medical Information 5 feet 7 inches tall, 128lb with a chest measurement between 33 and 35 inches, is of a dark complexion with blue eyes and brown hair.

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation
Unit, Squadron, or Ship
Date
Transport
Embarked From Destination
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With 41st, 43rd, 44th, & 45th Special Co

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 29 March 1955 Age 67 years
Place of Death Geraldine, New Zealand
Cause
Notices Timaru Herald 30 March 1955
Memorial or Cemetery Geraldine Cemetery
Memorial Reference General Section, Row 222, Plot 187
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

George Henry Pierce, the eldest child of Thomas Bushell and Emily Ann Pierce (nee Stevens), was born on 16 March 1888 in Orari. George has a twin sister, Maud Mary, and three brothers: Albert Edward, Thomas Cecil, and Leslie William Robert Pierce. George worked in the maintenance branch of the Railways Department before going farming in the Geraldine district in 1914. George married Elizabeth Rudd Grayburn on 29 September 1915 at the Methodist Church in Geraldine. Elizabeth was the daughter of Harland Watson and Hannah Grayburn, of Geraldine.

When George enlisted he was the father of his oldest child, David Bushell Pierce. George was called up in the 9th Ballot for service with the NZEF, signing the attestation papers on 20 July 1917 at Timaru. George listed his employment as a farmer working for himself, in Geraldine. For some reason George gave his mother’s name as Mary Ann Pierce. George Henry Pierce was 29 years and 4 months old when he joined the 41st Reinforcements, Special Company, of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The officer at his medical test described him as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, 128lb with a chest measurement of 33 to 35 inches. He was of a dark complexion, with brown hair and blue eyes.

While in New Zealand George transferred through other reinforcement groups’ specialist companies – the 45th in June, then to the 43rd in September, and finally to the 44th in October. With the war coming to an end he was discharged on leave without pay in September (while nominally with the 43rd). He was finally demobilised on 25 November 1918 at the end of the war.

After the war George and Elizabeth went on to have seven more children, in addition to their oldest son David Bushell, born before George enlisted. The children were: Evelyn Mary, George Egerton, Helen Elizabeth, Una Lilias, Nora Maude, Pamela Anne, and John Thomas Harland Pierce.

George died aged 67 on 29 March 1955 in Geraldine. He is buried with Elizabeth in the Geraldine Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [16 September 2016]. NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref, AABK 18805 W5539 0039812). [11 October 2016]. Timaru Herald 30 March 1955.

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Dianne Hall

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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