Profile

LIVINGSTONE, Eric Joseph
(Service number 63006)

Corporal Eric Livingstone, circa 1918 — (Courtesy of N De Pina )

Aliases
First Rank	Corporal	Last Rank	Private

Birth

Date	02/08/1897	Place of Birth	Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date	7 August 1917	Age	21 yrs
Address at Enlistment	436 Durham Street, St Albans, Christchurch
Occupation	Stock agent
Previous Military Experience	1st Canterbury Reg.
Marital Status	Single. Child - Sylvia HARLAND (Illeg.), born 19 October 1916 at Manaia.
Next of Kin	Mrs M. A. LIVINGSTONE (mother), 436 Durham Street, Saint Albans, Christchurch
Religion	Presbyterian
Medical Information	Height 5 feet 7 inches. Weight 156 lbs. Chest measurement 35-40 inches. Complexion fresh. Eyes brown. Hair dark brown. Eyes both 6/6. Hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs all normal. Full movement of joints. Chest and lungs well formed. No illnesses. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Not vaccinated. Good bodily and mental health. No fits. Class A.

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	35th Reinforcements A Company
Date	2 March 1918
Transport	Tofua
Embarked From	Wellington	Destination	Southampton, England

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With	Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals	British War Medal; Victoria 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

On 30 November 1917, while at Trentham Camp, he was admitted to Cottage Hospital with Vincents Angina; he was discharged on 11 December 1917,

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date	23 October 1918	Age	21 yrs
Place of Death	Le Cateau, France
Cause	Killed in action
Notices	Press, 9 November 1918
Memorial or Cemetery	Romeries Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France
Memorial Reference	VI. C. 12.
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Youngest son of Irish parents, Thomas and Mary Ann LIVINGSTONE. Brother of Alexander Reuel LIVINGSTONE who was also killed in action. Brothers Robert Heaton and Thomas McClelland LIVINGSTONE also served in WWI; another brother, Henry Gillies LIVINGSTONE, was stationed as adjutant to the C. Y. C. (1917). Eric attended High Street Dunedin, Lyttelton, West Christchurch schools and Christchurch Boys' High School. In 1914 at West Christchurch School he gained the cup for the best all-round boy. He was a powerful swimmer and held many medals for life-saving and swimming. He was also a promising member of the Canterbury Rowing Club, and a fine footballer, having played for the B. H. S. first fifteen and for Old Boys. He enlisted on his 20th birthday and spent his 21st birthday in France, only to be killed one month later. He was buried first in an isolated grave at Pont a Pierres, nearly 3 miles from Quesnoy. On 20 August 1917 he was among the Canterbury men who paraded at the King Edward Barracks before departing for the training camps of the North Island. In September he was appointed a probationary corporal. Eric was among those who had fallen since the previous Anzac Day who were remembered at a memorial service held on 25 April 1919 in the Canterbury College Hall, in memory of old boys of Christchurch Boys' High School. And at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Rowing held on 29 September 1919, Eric and his brother Reuel were named in the club's Roll of Honour. On 3 June 1918, he stated that he had already made a Will which was held by the Public Trustee, Christchurch. His medals were sent to his father. However the plaque and scroll were sent in 1922 to Miss Dell HARLAND or Mrs Agnes HARLAND (guardian), 36 Strowan Road, Fendalton, Christchurch, to be held in trust for his child, Sylvia HARLAND b.1916 (who later married Harry MARSON).

Sources

Cenotaph Database [08 May 2014]; CWGC [10 May 2014; NZ Defence Force Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5544 0068724) [11 May 2014]; Press, 21 August 1917, 1 December 1917, 9 November 1918, 16 November 1918, 26 Apr 1919, 30 September 1919, Evening Post, 28 September 1917 (Papers Past) [08 & 09 May 2014]; SCRoll web submission from K Marson, 24 Novemeber 2014)

External Links

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