HORNBLOW, Alfred James
(Service number 29168)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 02/03/1887 | Place of Birth | Kimbell |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 28 June 1916 | Age | 29 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Fairlie | ||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | 2 years Mackenzie Mounted Rifles | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | James Hornblow (father) Ashwick Flat, Fairlie | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | |||
| Date | |||
| Transport | |||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | C Company, NZEF | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Died during training | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 8 August 1916 | Age | 29 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Trentham Camp, New Zealand | ||
| Cause | Died of sickness - cerebro spinal meningitis - Trentham 8 Aug 16 | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Fairlie Cemetery, South Canterbury, New Zealand | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | On Memorial wall, Timaru; Ashwick Flat War Memorial (as A Hornblow); Fairlie War Memorial | ||
Biographical Notes
Alfred, the only son of James Hornblow and his second wife Janet Crawford (nee Taylor), was born at Kimbell in South Canterbury on 2 March 1887. His father James was born at Swindon, Wiltshire, England in 1851, and died at Fairlie on 13 February 1923. James’ first marriage in 1868 to Jemima McGowan ended in tragedy when she died in 1874. James re-married in 1886 to Janet Crawford Taylor on 15 June 1860. The family farmed at Fairlie, where both parents are buried.
Prior to being balloted for military service in 1916, Alfred was a self-employed farmer at Cattle Valley, Fairlie, and had served for two years with the Mackenzie Mounted Rifles. He enlisted at Timaru on 28 June and was one of the men of the 18th Reinforcements fare welled the same day at the Drill Hall by the Mayor (Mr E.R. Guinness) and the Rev Dean Tubman. They took the first express north, disembarking at Temuka for a further farewell by Temuka residents. They then joined the second express north for Lyttelton with the men from Ashburton joining them on the journey. Alfred’s enlistment papers described him as being aged 29 years, Presbyterian, 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighing 154 pounds (70kgs), with a chest measuring 36–39 ½ inches, a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He nominated his father James of Ashwick Flat, Fairlie, as his next of kin.
On arrival at Trentham,the principle training ground for the infantry, he began five weeks of preliminary training and elementary musketry. This was to be followed by a further eight weeks in-depth training at Featherston Camp. Unfortunately after having progressed to the second stage of training he was taken seriously ill with cerebro spinal meningitis. An epidemic of cerebro-spinal fever had reappeared in midwinter July 1916 in the two principal camps, and became epidemic in August, dying out gradually in the summer months. In all 51 cases including 36 deaths were recorded. Unfortunately Alfred was one who died at the Trentham Camp Cottage Hospital on 8 August 1916. His father had been called and was at his bedside when he passed away at 4.15 pm. His remains were taken to his home town and he was interred in the Fairlie Cemetery.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database (November 2015); Military personnel file, Archives New Zealand; "18th Reinforcement. South Canterbury Quota" inthe Timaru Herald 27 June 1916 and "News of the day" in the New Zealand Times 11 August 1916, courtesy of Papers Past at https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/; Find a Grave at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120612326/alfred-james-hornblow; New Zealand War Graves Project at https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/alfred-james-hornblow (photo of headstone, Fairlie Cemetery)
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG & Timaru Herald; Ted Hansen, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.