FORD, Herbert
(Service number 18644)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 21/11/1894 | Place of Birth | Leicester, England |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 3 April 1916 | Age | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | C/- H. Collins, Te Kiri | ||
| Occupation | Farm Hand | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Married | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs H Ford (Wife), C/- G.W.Smart, Skeet Rd, Auroa, New Zealand | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | NZ Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 1st Battalion | ||
| Date | 26 July 1916 | ||
| Transport | Waitemata | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington, New Zealand | Destination | Devonport, England |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ Rifle Brigade | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western Europe 1916-17 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal & Victory Medal | ||
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 | 7 June 1917 | Age | 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Belgium | ||
| Cause | Killed in action | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Cemetery,Heuveliand, West Viaanderen, Belgium | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | On Memorial wall, Timaru | ||
Biographical Notes
Herbert was the son of William and Elizabeth Ford, and a native of Glenfield, Leicester, England.
Shortly before his enlistment for service Herbert was married in New Plymouth to Alice Black on 28 March 1916. Unfortunately the couple were not to have much time to emjoy their marraige as Herbert, a runner, was killed in action in June 1917 during the attack at Messines. A fellow soldier William Mulhane (service no.18690) reported: "He had just left headquarters in the afternoon when he was hit and killed. I could see no actual wound on him. I helped bury him and 15 or 16 others behind the NZ dressing station in the rear of our front line."
Herbert's widow, Alice, later remarried and became Alice Todd of Otakeho in Taranaki.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database (September 2013); Archives New Zealand Military Personnal file (December 2014. Sept 2017); NZ Marriage Records.
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Janette Clarke, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.