GABITES, Eric Briggs
(Service number 622)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Bugler |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 23 March 1892 | Place of Birth | Timaru, NZ |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 31 August 1914 | Age | 22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Townsville Queensland | ||
| Occupation | Sheepfarmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | Nz Territorials | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs M Gabites of North Street Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | Australian Imperial Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Australian Infantry, 9 Battalion | ||
| Date | |||
| Transport | |||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | 1914/15 Star, British War medal, Victory Medal | ||
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 |
Death
| Date | 28 June 1915 | Age | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Gallipolli, Turkey | ||
| Cause | Killed in Action | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Shell Green Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Son of Arthur and Margaret Gabites of Timaru - former pupil of Timaru main school and Timaru Boys High School. He is also listed in the 1910 Timaru Technical School Roll book, age 19 years, as living on North St (Timaru), and enrolled to study freehand drawing. Gabites later went to Australia, aged 21. He had three brothers in the NZEF.
Mary-Jane Koning commented: “Gabites is mentioned in a letter from my grandfather, John Duncan McLeod to his sister Mary in Timaru which was published in the Timaru Herald August 20, 1915. He was a fellow High School boy (Timaru Boys), J.D. discovered him in his Battalion - the 9th Battalion of the AIF. Gabites had been in the thick of it since landing [see article attached to this record]… Gabites was reported missing 28 June 1915 but his death was not confirmed until some time later, when an eye witness provided a written statement. There were urgent letters from home, including one from the Timaru coroner, who was Gabites' brother. The eye witness also said there was another brother in the Light Horse. (from the AIF records)”
Sources
National archives Australia, NZ Wargraves; SCRoll web submission from M Koning, 20 February 2015; Timaru Technical School roll book (SCRoll submission from J James, Mountainview High School, 18 March 2015)
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Lois White, SC branch, NZSG
Currently Assigned to
LW
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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