Profile

FIFIELD, Joseph
(Service number 7/1228)

Woodbury War Memorial, pictured in 2010
Woodbury War Memorial (World War One plaque), pictured in 2010
Aliases
First Rank Trooper Last Rank Lance Corporal

Birth

Date 04/11/1889 Place of Birth Woodbury, South Canterbury, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date 17 April 1915 Age 25
Address at Enlistment Woodbury, New Zealand
Occupation Butcher
Previous Military Experience Reserve 8th (South Canterbury) Mounted Rifles
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs J. Fifield (Mother), Woodbury, Geraldine,New Zealand
Religion Church Of England
Medical Information Examiniation Passed. Fit For Service

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 6th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Mounted Rifles
Date 14 August 1915
Transport Willochra Or Tofua
Embarked From Wellington Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Mounted Rifles

Military Awards

Campaigns Balkans (Gallipoli) 1915
Service Medals 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory 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 Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Persistent Cough, Rest Camp 7/09/1917, 21/09/1917, 5/07/1918 Died from Influenza 20/12/1918

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 20 December 1918 Age 30
Place of Death Gallipoli, Dardenelles
Cause Died of Disease (Influenza)
Notices Timaru Herald 30 December 1918
Memorial or Cemetery Chanak Consular Cemetery, Turkey
Memorial Reference I.B.5.
New Zealand Memorials On Memorial wall, Timaru; Geraldine Church Memorial; Geraldine War Memorial; Woodbury War Memorial

Biographical Notes

Son of Sarah Ann Evans Fifield and Joseph Fifield of Woodbury, South Canterbury, New Zealand.

James Stuart Whyte, of Oamaru, who served with the Canterbuiry Mounted Rifles mentions Fifield in his detailed daily diary. He offers a glimpse of a moment of daily life when, on 7 February 1918 at Richon-Le-Sion, he noted "Had a bridge party in the evening. Sgt. Fifield & Cpl. Estcourt played Robbie & I. We played fair cobbers and they won three and scored 2880 points above us but nevertheless we had an enjoyable evening and the last play lasted till I went on piquet at 23.50".

D Jennings recounts: "Joseph Fifield served twice at Gallipoli during the 1915 campaign, and was one of 489 soldiers of the CMR [Canterbury Mounted Rifles] who returned to Gallipoli after the war to ensure the Turks complied with the terms of the peace agreement. Unfortunately, an outbreak of influenza killed 11 of our soldiers, one of whom was Joseph Fifield - the only one from South Canterbury." Jennings wrote a play about Gallipli and the men from Geraldine which was performed several times and was to be repeated in April 2015.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [27/08/2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5537 0039 808 [29 August 2013] CWGC [02 September 2013]; SCRoll submission (recieved via Carol Bell at the Timaru Herald), 11 March 2015; SCRoll web submission by A Polson-Genge, 25 May 2021

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available.

Researched and Written by

Patrina Buchanan

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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