(South Canterbury Museum 2013/155.33 #01)(South Canterbury Museum 2013/155.33 #04)
Aliases
First Rank
Private
Last Rank
Private
Birth
Date
23/09/1896
Place of Birth
Woodend, Canterbury, New Zealand
Enlistment Information
Date
5 October 1916
Age
20
Address at Enlistment
Waihao Downs, Waimate, New Zealand
Occupation
Farm Labourer
Previous Military Experience
D Company, 2 South Canterbury Regiment
Marital Status
Single
Next of Kin
John Briggs (father), Waihao Downs, Waimate
Religion
Church of England
Medical Information
5 foot 6 inches tall, weight 11 stone 2 lbs, chest 33 - 36 inches, medium complexion, blue eyes, lt brown hair, dentally fit
Military Service
Served with
NZ Armed Forces
Served in
Army
Military District
Embarkation Information
Body on Embarkation
22nd Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Regiment
Unit, Squadron, or Ship
Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company
Date
16 February 1917
Transport
Navua
Embarked From
Wellington, New Zealand
Destination
Devonport, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With
2 Company Canterbury Infantry Regiment
Military Awards
Campaigns
Western Europe
Service Medals
British War Medal and 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
2 October 1917 - Gun shot wound to face - admitted to No3 Australian Field Ambulance, transferred to No12 Gen Hospital Rouen; 25 August 1918 - Gun shot wound to neck and compact fracture to spine - admitted 1st Australian General Hospital Rouen, transferred to Hospital Ship Guildford Castle; Died 28 August 1918 while in transit to England.
Post-war Occupations
Death
Date
28 August 1918
Age
21
Place of Death
At sea crossing from France aboard the Hospital Ship Guildford Castle
Cause
Died of wounds
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery
Brockenhurst (St Nicholas) Churchyard, Hampshire, England
Memorial Reference
Plot A, Row 4, Grave 19
New Zealand Memorials
On Memorial wall, Timaru; Waimate First World War Memorial
Biographical Notes
Joseph was born at Woodend, Canterbury, on 23 September 1896, the second son of a family of five boys and six girls, to John (1864-1941) and Mary Jane (nee Scoon, 1872-1941) Briggs. John had earlier emigrated out from Cumberland, England, and working as a farmer, when he married Mary Jane, born in Rangiora, at Woodend, Canterbury, in 1893. The family later moved to the Waihao Downs district, Waimate.
Joseph was working as a labourer on his father’s farm, when he enlisted at Waimate, aged 20, on 5 October 1916. He was described as being single, Anglican, 5 foot 6 inches tall, weighing 11 stone 2 lbs, his chest measuring 33 – 36 inches, of medium complexion, blue eyes, light brown hair and being dentally fit. He had also had had some service with D Company, 2 South Canterbury Regiment. He was posted to C Company, Canterbury Infantry Regiment and after initial training, was part of the 22nd Reinforcements which left on the Navua from Wellington on 16 February 1917, bound for Devonport, Devon, England. Further training followed at Sling Camp in England before being posted to 2 Company, Canterbury Infantry Regiment in France on 26 May 1917, where the Regiment was at Basseville, preparing for the attack on Passchendaele. He also undertook a short course at the School of Instruction from 11 July until returning to his unit on 19 August. On 2 October 1917 near Passchendaele, Joseph received a gunshot wound to the face and was admitted to No 3 Australian Field Ambulance and later transferred to No 12 General Hospital at Rouen. By 30 November he was back with his unit at New Hutting Camp, which was half a mile south of Ypres. In December he had 2 ½ weeks leave in England before returning to Ypres on 7 February 1918. On 25 August during the battle of Bapaume, Joseph’s Battalion was involved in the capture of the town and the high ground to the east when he received further gunshot wounds to his neck and a compact fracture of his spine. After a short admittance to the 1st Australian General Hospital at Rouen, he was transferred to England aboard the hospital ship Guildford Castle. Unfortunately he died during the passage aboard ship on 28 August 1918. His body was then taken to Brockenhurst where he was buried in the St Nicholas churchyard in Plot A, Row 4, Grave 19 by New Zealand Chaplain the Reverend E.D. Rice. After the war Joseph’s medals, the British War Medal and Victory Medal, plus a scroll and plaque were sent to his father at Waimate. His name is commemorated on the Waimate War Memorial Gates.
Sources
NZ BDM Historical Records at https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz; Every Man Remebered at http://www.everymanremembered.org/search/results/?forenames=joseph&surname=briggs&nationality=4®iment=Canterbury+Regiment%2C+N.Z.E.F.&male=1&sortby=surname; New Zealand ANZACs in the Great War 1914-1918 at http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/search?type=search&name=®Num=38931&place=; NZ War Graves Project at http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/joseph-briggs; Clare Church “New Zealand Graves Brockenhurst”, pages 178–180
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