Profile

BAKER, Alick Newton
(Service number 69542)

Aliases Known as Snow
First Rank Private Last Rank Sergeant

Birth

Date 12 August 1897 Place of Birth Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date 16 August 1917 Age 20 years
Address at Enlistment C/o Mrs Rea, Dawson Street, New Plymouth
Occupation Clerk (P. & T. Department, New Plymouth)
Previous Military Experience Post & Telegraph Corps, New Plymouth - still serving
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs Mary Ann BAKER (mother), Arthur Street, Timaru
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 36th Reinforcements, Specialist Company
Date 23 April 1918
Transport Willochra
Embarked From Wellington Destination Southampton, Hampshire, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With NZ Pay Corps

Military Awards

Campaigns (To England, 1918-19)
Service Medals British War Medal
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 5 August 1919 Reason On the termination of his period of engagement

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Civil servant

Death

Date 15 January 1969 Age 71 years
Place of Death New Plymouth
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Taranaki Crematorium; ashes interred Te Henui Cemetery, New Plymouth
Memorial Reference Te Henui Cemetery - Cremation Area, Plot 289
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Alick Newton Baker, known as Snow, was born on 12 August 1897 at Timaru, the third son of Thomas Charles and Mary Ann (née Newton) Baker. Alick and his siblings were educated at Timaru Main School, the family living in nearby Arthur Street. Alick was a clerk with the Post and Telegraph Department at New Plymouth when he enlisted there on 16 August 1917. Living with Mrs Rea on Dawson Street, single and Presbyterian, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Mary Ann Baker, Arthur Street, Timaru. He was serving with the Post and Telegraph Corps at New Plymouth.

Private A. N. Baker embarked with the Specialist Company of the 36th Reinforcements, departing per the “Willochra” on 23 April 1918 from Wellington and disembarking on 31 May at Suez, Egypt. Having embarked at Alexandria per the “Ormonde” on 4 July 1918, he disembarked at Southampton, England two weeks later and marched into Sling. He was appointed Temporary Corporal and transferred to the New Zealand Pay Corps in London on 24 February 1919. He was then promoted to Sergeant in May.

Sergeant A. N. Baker, 69542, returned to New Zealand per the “Tahiti” (Draft No. 261), embarking on 27 May 1919 and arriving on 8 July 1919. He was discharged on 5 August 1919, on the termination of his period of engagement, and awarded the British War Medal. Alick married Myra Josephine Rea on 27 July 1921 at New Plymouth. They had two sons. Alick and Myra spent their entire married life at New Plymouth. He served with the Home Defence in World War Two. Alick Newton Baker died at New Plymouth on 15 December 1969, aged 71 years. He was cremated at Taranaki Crematorium, his ashes interred in Te Henui Cemetery, New Plymouth. Myra died on 7 December 1972.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [20 December 2024]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [20 December 2024]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [20 December 2024]; Te Henui Cemetery, New Plymouth headstone transcription [20 December 2024]; Te Henui Cemetery burial record & Taranaki Crematorium record (New Plymouth District Council) [20 December 2024]; NZ Times, 23 June 1919, Timaru Herald, 24 June 1919 (Papers Past) [15 October 2013; 12 December 2024]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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