BRYCE, Colin
(Service number 22664)
| First Rank | Lieutenant | Last Rank | Captain |
|---|
Birth
| Date | Unknown | Place of Birth | Tokomairiro, Otago |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | |||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Married | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs J.E Bryce (wife), Stirling, Otago | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | NZEF | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 16th Reinforcements Otago Infantry Battalion, D Company | ||
| Date | 20 August 1916 | ||
| Transport | Navua | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Devonport, England |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Otago Infantry Battalion | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
London Gazette, 28 May 1918, p6204, Rec No 1900: Honours despatch for period 22nd September 1917 to 24th February 1918 (inclusive)
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 | 3 December 1917 | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Ypres, Belgium | ||
| Cause | Killed in action | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Hooge Crater Cemetery, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | On Memorial wall, Timaru | ||
Biographical Notes
Son of James and Margaret Bryce Captain Bryce was commanding 10th Company in the attack on Polderhoek Chateau on 3 December when he was severely wounded. While making his way back from the firing line he was killed. Operation Orders for the attack on Polderhoek Chateau and grounds were issued on 1 December 1917. The assault was to take place on 3 December with two battalions of the 2nd Infantry Brigade in line, namely the 1st Battalion of Otago and the 1st Battalion of Canterbury. In addition to the artillery barrage which was to support the attack arrangements were made for the operation to be covered by a barrage of machine gun fire, by trench mortars and by a discharge of gas by 4in. Stokes mortars. The attack was not a success and a fatal miscalculation caused the two leading Companies (4th and 10th) to be caught in the destructive fire of their own artillery. Severe losses were incurred. See A.E. Byrne The Official History of the Otago Regiment in the Great War, p. 232ff. and David Ferguson The History of the Canterbury Regiment, NZEF 1914-1919, p. 212ff. There is a good map on p. 216/7 of this book.
Sources
Cenotaph Oct 2013
External Links
Related Documents
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Researched and Written by
Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG & Timaru Herald
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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