LUSCOMBE, Arthur Wilkes
(Service number 61318)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 7 March 1886 | Place of Birth | Waimate |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Lochiel | ||
| Occupation | Groom | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Miss O. LUSCOMBE (sister), St Andrews, Canterbury | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 33rd Reinforcements, E Company | ||
| Date | 31 December 1917 | ||
| Transport | Athenic | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
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 | 27 July 1963 | Age | 77 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Taumarunui | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Taumarunui New Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Arthur Wilkes Luscombe was born on 7 March 1886 at Waimate, the son of Philip Henry Bond Luscombe and his second wife, Mary Matilda (née Wilkes) Luscombe. He was probably educated at Hook School, where his father was elected chairman of the school committee in 1890. Philip Henry Bond Luscombe died on 1 July 1904 at Waimate Hospital and Mrs Mary Matilda Luscombe died on 14 July 1910 at her home, Burleigh Farm, Makikihi. In 1916 Arthur Luscombe was listed as a groom on the Reserve Rolls. His older half-brother, Philip Henry Luscombe, had also moved to Southland, where he was listed on the Reserve Rolls. When Arthur was called up and enlisted he was a groom at Lochiel, Southland. He nominated his sister as next-of-kin – Miss Olive Luscombe, St Andrews, Canterbury.
A. W. Luscombe, of St Andrews, returned to New Zealand per the ‘Awarua’ which was due at Auckland about 19 November 1919. Arthur Wilkes Luscombe had a few brushes with the law both before and after the war, and incurred several penalties during his service. By the 1930s he had moved to Masterton and in the 1950s retired to Taumarunui, where he died on 27 July 1963, aged 77 years. He was buried in the RSA section of Taumarunui New Cemetery, his grave marked by a services plaque. His brother, Herbert John Luscombe, of St Andrews, was held for home service; another brother, Ernest Edward Luscombe, who was drawn in the ballot, enlisted for service in World War One; and his sister, Mary Olive Luscombe, joined the Volunteer Aid Detachment and served in New Zealand.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [01 November 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [21 December 2020]; Taumarunui Cemetery burial record (Ruapehu District Council) [26 December 2002]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [26 December 2020]; South Canterbury Times, 3 May 1904, Timaru Herald, 11 July 1904, 15 July 1910, 30 October 1919 (Papers Past) [01 November 2020; 26 December 2020]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, 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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