Profile

WIGLEY, Arthur James
(Service number 4/1229)

Aliases
First Rank Lieutenant Last Rank Captain

Birth

Date 23/05/1889 Place of Birth Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment Otira
Occupation Civil engineer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs A. C. WIGLEY (mother), Park Lane, Timaru; Mrs Violet G. WIGLEY (wife), Rath Keenan, Bullival, County Meath, Ireland
Religion Church of England
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Engineers, Tunnelling Company
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Headquarters, No 3 Relief
Date 18 December 1915
Transport Ruapehu
Embarked From Auckland Destination Plymouth, Devon, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards Military Cross

Award Circumstances and Date

London Gazette, 16 August 1917

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 8 October 1917 Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 11 July 1923 Age 34 years
Place of Death Haifa, Palestine
Cause Shot by robbers
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Haifa, Palestine
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Arthur James Wigley was the youngest son of Thomas Henry and Annie Caroline (née Lysaght) Wigley. Arthur was educated at Kakahu Bush School before going on to Waitaki Boy's High School and Christ's College. His father died in 1895. Following his education Arthur joined the Public Works Department as a surveyor.

Arthur enlisted in the Tunnelling Corps, obtained his commission and embarked in December 1915. In October 1917 Mrs Wigley received word that her son had been award the Military Cross. "Lieutenant Arthur James Wigley, Eng.—For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of a mining party close to the enemy. At a most critical moment, when the discovery of our mines seemed certain, owing to their being exposed by shell fire, he personally superintended the apparently impossible task of reconstructing and disguising our work, thus veiling our plans from the enemy when secrecy was of supreme importance." [Timaru Herald, 30 October 1917] On 8th October he was discharged in England and took up a commission in the Indian Army. At the time of the armistice his company was transferred to Palestine. After his discharge he remained in the district as a railways engineer. In 1923 came the fatal blow. Captain Arthur James Wigley, M.C., was shot by robers, while on duty, on 13 July 1923 at Haifa, Palestine.

Arthur had married in England in about 1920 and had two sons (despite his obituary only noting one). He was survived by his widow (Violet) and young sons Arthur and James (Jim), whom were all later buried in Timaru Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [25 May 2018]; Timaru Herald, 27 August 1917, 30 October 1917, 26 November 1917, Temuka Leader, 17 July 1923, Press, 19 July 1923, (Papers Past) [21 & 29 May 2018]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) 28 May 2018]; Timaru Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council); SCRoll web submission by J Brown, 24 December 2023

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