Profile

NORRIS, Patrick
(Service number 23230)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 14 June 1882 Place of Birth Bridge O'Weir, Scotland

Enlistment Information

Date 1 November 1916 Age 33
Address at Enlistment Paihiatua, New Zealand
Occupation Boilermaker
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mr B. Dunstall (friend), 41 Riverbank, Wanganui, New Zealand
Religion Roman Catholic
Medical Information 5ft 5in, 127lbs, fair complexion, bluish grey eyes, fair and scanty hair

Military Service

Served with New Zealand Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Rifle Brigade
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 13th Reinforcements, H Company
Date 27 July 1916
Transport HMNZT 55 Tofua
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination Devonport, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With New Zealand Area Employment Company

Military Awards

Campaigns Western European
Service Medals British War Medal, Victory Medal
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 13 December 1918 Age 34
Place of Death Wanganui,Manawatu, New Zealand
Cause Died of complications from influenza
Notices Wellington Evening Post 21 Dec 1918 P6
Memorial or Cemetery Aramoho Cemetery, Wanganui, New Zealand
Memorial Reference C.1.37.
New Zealand Memorials On Memorial wall, Timaru; Waimate First World War Memorial, Memorial Archway, Waimate

Biographical Notes

Patrick Norris was born at Bridge O Weir, Renfrewshire, Scotland on 14 June 1882. He was a boilermaker, residing at Paihaitua when he enlisted on 1 November 1916. His last employer was an A Carlson of Otaki. He claimed to be single but named his daughter Annie Norris of 4 Ferguson St, Johnstone, Renfrew, Scotland in his army will. He was Roman Catholic, 5ft 5in, 127lbs, of fair complexion, with bluish grey eyes, fair and scanty hair. His next of kin was given as his friend Mr B Dunstall of 41 Riverbank, Wanganui.

Norris was attached to 13th Reinforcements, H Company of NZ Rifle Brigade and embarked at Wellington on 27 July 1916 on the Tofua, disebmarking at Devonport. Norris served at Codford Depot on the Salisbury Plain until November 1917 when he was sent to France as part of the NZ Area Employment Coy but a C classification by the Medical Board sent him back to England in July 1918. He was arrested as an absentee in Edinburgh in August, incurring a fine of 4 shillings and fourpence before heading back to New Zealand in September 1918. He suffered dyspepsia over the next few weeks – he was attending Wanganui Hospital as an outpatient in October and perhaps his weakened state contributed to him contracting the influenza that was rampant around the world at that time. He died from influenza complications at Wanganui Hospital on 13 December 1918 and is buried at Wanganui (Aramoho) Cemetery.

Norris’s age fluctuated during his time with the NZ Army. His attestation papers note he is 33, but the attesting sergeant wrote “looks older” beside the number, while a Wanganui hospital report in October 1917, just one year later, says he is 48. His newspaper death entry though gave his age as 26.

Patrick's connection to South Canterbury is unclear.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [August 2013 and June 2021]; Commonwealth War Graves Commission website (http://www.cwgc.org/); NZ Defence Force Personnel Records [June 2021]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available.

Researched and Written by

Maree Bowen, SC branch NZSG; Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Logo. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.

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