Profile

PYE, John Maxton
(Service number 54595)

Aliases
First Rank Rifleman Last Rank Rifleman

Birth

Date 18 January 1896 Place of Birth Geraldine

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment Taikorea
Occupation Farmer
Previous Military Experience Territorials - still serving
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs E. PYE (mother), Pleasant Point, South Canterbury
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Rifle Brigade
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Reinforcements, H Company (part)
Date 24 July 1917
Transport Waitemata
Embarked From Destination Plymouth, Devon, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With New Zealand Rifle Brigade

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

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

Discharge

Date Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 6 October 1976 Age 80 years
Place of Death Masterton
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Masterton Cemetery
Memorial Reference Block C, Row 15
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

John Maxton Pye was born on 18 January 1896 at Geraldine, the third son of William Wilcox and Elizabeth Harvey (née Patrick) Pye. Along with his siblings he was educated at Pleasant Point School. A farm labourer, he was called up in 1917. Rifleman J. M. Pye embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 24 July 1917, destined for Plymouth, England. He returned to New Zealand in March 1918. The South Canterbury men came from Lyttelton by special train expected mid afternoon on the 19th March.

John married Thelma Bernedene Grace Gordon in 1927. He died on the 6 October 1976 at Masterton and was buried in the local cemetery. An older brother, William Webber Pye, also served in World War One.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [11 January 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [11 January 2021]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [12 January 2021]; Masterton Cemetery headstone transcription [12 January 2021]; Timaru Herald, 18 March 1918 (Papers Past) [09 April 2015]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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