24 November 1915: admitted to NZ General Hospital Cairo suffering from dysentry.
16 March 1916: Christchurch Hospital.
7 April 1916: admitted to Timaru Hospital as carrier of Enteric fever
Post-war Occupations
Baker & Carpenter
Death
Date
18 February 1966
Age
69
Place of Death
Temuka, New Zealand
Cause
Notices
Timaru Herald 19 February 1966
Memorial or Cemetery
Temuka, New Zealand
Memorial Reference
RSA Row 200, Plot 23
New Zealand Memorials
Biographical Notes
George was born at Orari on 4 December 1896, the second son of a family of eleven children by Leonard & Elizabeth Ann (nee Fififield) Pierce. He was educated at Geraldine District High School, and on leaving school, trained as a carpenter. Prior to enlisting in the Canterbury Infantry Battalion on 17 April 1915, he was working as a carpenter for Rooke & Bagrie at Geraldine. H had previous military experience with the 2nd South Canterbury Regiment. He was described as being single, Anglican, 5 foot 8 ½ inches tall, weighing 146 lbs, chest measuring 33 inches, of fair complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, having false upper teeth, the lower ones being fair. He gave his mother, Mrs L. Pierce of Wilson Street, Geraldine, as his next of kin. Private Pierce embarked from Wellington on 14 August 1915 with the 6th Reinforcements aboard the Willochra or Tofua, bound for Suez, Egypt. Following Egyptian service, he joined his Battalion at Mudros on 30 September 1915. On 24 November he was admitted to the NZ General Hospital, Cairo, suffering from dysentery and para typhoid. Found unfit for further military service, he left aboard SS Tahiti on 11 February 1916, for return to New Zealand and arrived in Dunedin on 15 March. He was admitted to the Christchurch Hospital on 16 March and on 7 April, and was then transferred to Timaru Hospital as a carrier of enteric fever. On 26 May 1916, he was finally discharged from the army as medically unfit for further military service due to illness contracted on active service. After the end of hostilities, George was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal for his service. On his return to Temuka, George married Miss Christina Adeline Horwell in 1923. The couple had two children, but Christina unfortunately died young at Temuka on 12 October 1928. George again married in 1930, this time to Miss Rosina Simpson Muirhead. George set up a bakery and catering business in Temuka, but during the depression he was forced to close the business and went to work on the Homer Tunnel project. On his return he again took up the trade of carpenter and spent the rest of his working life at the NZ Insulators, Temuka. He was an early member of the Temuka RSA, the Druids Lodge, and a very keen card player, fisherman. He later took up outdoor bowls. On 18 February 1966 George died at Temuka, and is buried in the Temuka Cemetery, RSA Section.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotpah Database (August 2015); Military Personnel file at NZ Archives (August 2015); Timaru District Council Cemetery Database at http://www.timaru.govt.nz/services/community-and-culture/cemeteries/cemetery-search (2 September 2015); NZ BDM Historical Records at https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz; Papers Past at http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz : Otago Daily Timaes 15 March 1916 "The Tahiti: Arrival at Port Chalmers, The invalided men" (2 September 2015); Ancestry at http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=allgs&gss=sfs63_home&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=george%20edward&gsfn_x=1&gsln=pierce&gsln_x=1&MSAV=1&cpxt=1&cp=14&catbucket=rstp (2 September 2015); New Zealand ANZACs in the Great War 1914-1918 at http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=205131 (2 September 2015)
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