Profile

NOSTER, William Samuel
(Service number 60979)

Aliases
First Rank Corporal Last Rank Lance Corporal

Birth

Date 12 July 1882 Place of Birth NZ

Enlistment Information

Date 7 May 1917 Age 34
Address at Enlistment Mill Rd, Waimate
Occupation Motor mechanic, self employed at Waimate
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs E. Noster (mother), Mill Road, Waimate, New Zealand
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information 5ft 6in, 156lbs, chest min 37in, max 39in; dark complexion, blue eyes, dark brown hair

Military Service

Served with New Zealand Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 31st Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company
Date 16 November 1917
Transport HMNZT 97 Tahiti
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination Liverpool, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Entrenching Battalion

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 10 May 1918 Age 37
Place of Death Belgium
Cause Died of wounds
Notices Otago Daily Times, 7 June 1918, page 4.
Memorial or Cemetery Voormezeele enclosure No. 3
Memorial Reference XVl.B.10
New Zealand Memorials On Memorial wall, Timaru; Waimate First World War Memorial

Biographical Notes

William Samuel Noster was born 12 July 1882, the eldest son of Elizabeth and Samuel Noster of Mornington, Dunedin. His father was born in England, his mother, nee Vinson, in Dunedin.

William was a motor mechanic at the time of enlistment, self employed in Waimate. His father was deceased and William named his mother Elizabeth Noster as next of kin. He stated that he had one person absolutely dependant on him – that was probably his mother. He enlisted as a private on 7 May 1917 aged 34. He was described as single, Presbyterian, 5ft 6in tall, 156lbs, with a dark complexion, blue eyes, and dark brown hair. He was attached to 31st Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company and embarked at Wellington on 16 November 1917, sailing on the Tahiti to Liverpool.

Noster left Sling Camp for France on 20 March 1918, joining the Entrenching Battalion and being posted to the field nine days later. Six weeks later, on 10 May, he died of wounds recieved in the field and was buried in Voormezeele Enclosure in Belgium 4km south-west of Ypres. His mother had not lived to hear of her son’s death. She had died two days before him, on 8 May.

William was survived by his brother Frank Noster, and sisters Mrs Frank Palmer (Waimate) and Mrs Fred Harley (Featherston). He did not leave a will and his medals were sent to his brother Frank.

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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