NELSON, Gilbert Thomas
(Service number 24/867)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 21 March 1891 | Place of Birth | Christchurch |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 28 May 1915 | Age | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Matangi, New Zealand | ||
| Occupation | Plasterer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | Lyttelton Naval Artillery (3 years), Timaru Port Guards (2 years) | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Hugh Fergusson NELSON (father), 5 Grey Road, Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | Advance Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 2nd New Zealand Rifle Brigade, C Company | ||
| Date | 18 September 1915 | ||
| Transport | Waitemata | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Egyptian and Gallipoli, Western Front | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal, Victory Medal, 1914-1915 Star | ||
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 | 9 October 1969 | Age | 78 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | |||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Gilbert Thomas Nelson was the son of Hugh Ferguson and Annie (née Hampton) Nelson.
Gilbert Thomas Nelson was born in Christchurch on 21 March 1891, the fifth son of Hugh Ferguson Nelson and his wife Annie (nee Hampton). He was educated at Woolston School.
Gilbert was working as a plasterer upon enlistment, last residing at Matangi and previously employed by H. Hollor of Matangi, Waikato. He was described as 5ft 10in, 173lbs, with a fair complexion, blue eyes, and red hair, single and of "independent" religion. His father Hugh was given as his next of kin, by then living at 5 Grey Rd, Timaru. He stated previous military experience as "Lyttelton Naval Art. 3 years and Timaru Port Guards 2 years". Gilbert was attested on 28 May 1915 and embarked at Wellington later that year for Suez and Egypt as a rifleman with the Advance Party of the 2nd NZ Rifle Brigade. He took part in the campaigns of Egypt and the Western Front, returning to New Zealand in 1919 on the Willochra, and took his final discharge on 13 April 1919 having completed 3 years 321 days service.
After the war Gilbert married Matilda Ann Walker in 1920 , and in the 1928 electoral roll the couple were living at 169 North St, Timaru - Gilbert having returned to his trade as a plasterer. They moved to Christchurch in the late 1940s, living in Sydenham. Gilbert died in Christchurch on 9 October 1969.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [14 December 2018 & August 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [14 December 2018]; Timaru Herald, 5 March 1919 (Papers Past) [14 December 2018]; Assorted records at Ancestry.com [August 2021]
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG; Sahiban Kanwal; Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG
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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