Profile

LANGFORD, Thomas Herbert
(Service number 3/1403)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 01/06/1891 Place of Birth Christchurch, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date 24 November 1915 Age 24
Address at Enlistment Winchester, New Zealand
Occupation Storekeeper
Previous Military Experience 8th South Canterbury Mounted Rifles
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs F.J. Langford (mother), Winchester
Religion Church of England
Medical Information 5 foot 10 tall, weight 180 lbs, 34 1/2 inch chest, brown eyes, fair complexion, dark hair

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation NZ Medical Corps
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 1 NZ General Hospital
Date 4 December 1915
Transport Hospital Ship Marama
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With 4 NZ Field Ambulance
Last Unit Served With NZ Medical Corps

Military Awards

Campaigns Egyptian & Western Europe
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 28 March 1918 Reason Medically unfit

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

20 July 1917: France, high explosive shell wounds to left leg, back & scalp - hospital treatment UK

Post-war Occupations

Public Relations

Death

Date 29 December 1952 Age 61
Place of Death Timaru, New Zealand
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Bromley Cemetery Christchurch
Memorial Reference Block 13, Plot 499
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Thomas, born in Christchurch 1 June 1891, was a self employed storekeeper in the village of Winchester. He enlisted at Geraldine on 24 November 1915. He gave as his next of kin his mother, Mrs F.J. Langford, also of Winchester. He was described as being single, aged 24, 5 foot 10 inches in height, 180 lbs weight, chest 34 ½ inches, having brown eyes, fair complexion and dark hair and being of the Anglican faith. Thomas embarked as a Private with 4 NZ Field Ambulance on 4 December 1915, aboard the Hospital Ship Marama, and disembarked at Suez, Egypt, 11 January 1916. He had had previous military experience with the 8th South Canterbury Mounted Rifles. Thomas served overseas in Egypt and Western Europe with 1 NZ General Hospital, and 4 NZ Field Ambulance. On 20 July 1917, he was wounded in the left leg, back and scalp, by a high explosive shell. After treatment in the United Kingdom, he was returned to New Zealand, and received further treatment at Hanmer Hospital before being discharged on 28 March 1918. For his war service he was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal. In 1919, at Timaru, Thomas married Amy Aroua Connelly, and spent the rest of his life serving his community. In 1922 he stood for the Liberal Party in the Temuka Electorate, in 1928 for the United Party, in 1935 for the Labour Party but was not elected in any campaign. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1931, and later moved to Christchurch where he was employed as a Public Relations Officer for the Christchurch City Council. He helped the Aged Peoples Welfare Council considerably in conjunction with the Christchurch City Council Housing Committee, and when St Helen’s Hospital was converted to a rest home for the elderly, it was named “Langford House”. Thomas died aged 61, in Timaru, on 29 December 1952, and is buried in the Bromley Cemetery Christchurch.

Sources

Auckland Museum Cenotaph database (June 2015); Archives NZ (Personal File); Ancestry.com.au; Christchurch City Council cemeteries database; Papers Past

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Ted Hansen (SC branch NZSG)

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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