BENBOW, John Whitton
(Service number 65069)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 2 August 1883 | Place of Birth | Temuka |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Hampden, Otago | ||
| Occupation | Farmer for W O Mckellar (later changed to NZ Australian Co) | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | |||
| Next of Kin | Mrs A H Benbow (mother), Hampden (later Methven) | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 36th Reinforcements, A Company | ||
| Date | 23 April 1918 | ||
| Transport | Willochra | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 | 2 May 1956 | Age | 74 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Ashburton | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Rakaia Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
John Whitton Benbow, named after the birthplace of his grandmother Mary, was born in Temuka on 2 August 1883.
The family appears to have moved from the region prior to enlistment. John appears in the 1911 Electoral records as a farmer in Waitohi, but by 1914 had moved to Bankside in the Selwyn Electorate. On enlistment in 1917 he appears to have moved again as he gave his last address as Hampden, Otago, where his next of kin (mother) was also at the time. HE had attempted to appeal his enlistment (supported by his employer, Mr WO McKellar of the NZ & australian Land Co), according to a report in the Otagop Witness on 27 August 1917, which was rejected as being lodged too late. The Oamaru Mail reported on 3 January 1920 that John, along with other local soldiers, was warmly welcomed home at the Athenaeum Hall at Hampden.
After the war John married Eliza (Lizzie) Muckle on 30 May 1928.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database (18 June 2015); see also Winsome Griffin's family history pages at http://winsomegriffin.com/Benbow/JohnWhittonBenbow.html; SCRoll web submission by W Griffin, 4 December 2015 & 22 May 2020; Electoral rolls via ancestrylibrary.com.au
External Links
Related Documents
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Researched and Written by
Tony Rippin (South Canterbury Museum)
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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