ESLER, James
(Service number 62946)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 25/10/1891 | Place of Birth | Pleasant Point |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 20 August 1917 | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | |||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | |||
| Next of Kin | Mrs J. Esler (wife), Sutherland's | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 37th Reinforcements, B Company | ||
| Date | 9 May 1918 | ||
| Transport | HMNZT 103 | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington, New Zealand | Destination | Liverpool, England |
| Other Units Served With | Canterbury Infantry Regiment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 14 July 1970 | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Timaru | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | |||
| New Zealand Memorials | Cave War Memorial; Sutherlands War Memorial | ||
Biographical Notes
James Esler married Margaret Fraser at Totara Valley on 29 March 1916. The couple had two children, Margaret Jean, and James Fraser.
James Esler embarked for Europe in May 1918, where he served on the Western front for 1 year and 104 days (of his total service of 290 days).
Great nephew Lloyd Esler recalls:
"James Esler was born at Pleasant Point and attended Pleasant Point School. His early years were spent on the family farm and in the surrounding districts. He married Margaret Fraser at Totara Valley on 29 March 1916 and they took up farming at Cave. Jim saw service with the 1st NZEF in France, his wife running the farm in his absence. On his return they remained on the Cave farm for several years, then sold out and moved to Milton where he operated as an agricultural contractor. In 1928 they moved to Ashburton where he worked for the Ashburton Glass Works until its closure, then for NZ railways. In Timaru in 1935 Jim worked as a gardener for the Timaru Hospital Board while running a small farm at Gleniti. He made many friends and became quite an authority on gardening giving his advice freely to those who asked. Jim had a very lively sense of humour and many a good story to tell thus making him popular with young and old. He died at the age of 78."
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph database (10 January 2015); SCRoll web submission from P MacKenzie, 20 January 2015; SCroll web submission from grand-daughter, M Long, 18 April 2015; SCRoll web submission from L Esler, 4 September 2017
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
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.
Tell us more
Do you have information that could be added to this story? Or related images that you are happy to share? Submit them here!