Profile

NUTSFORD, Henry George
(Service number 28909)

St Mary's Church, Timaru, memorial plaque, circa 2010
Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 17/01/1896 Place of Birth Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date 28 June 1916 Age 20
Address at Enlistment Sophia St, Timaru
Occupation Saddler
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs P.J. Nutsford (mother), Stafford Street, South Timaru, New Zealand
Religion Church of England
Medical Information 5ft 6in, 137lbs, dark complexion, brown eyes, black hair

Military Service

Served with New Zealand Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 18th Reinforcements, J Company
Date 10 November 1916
Transport HMNZT 67 Tofua
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination Plymouth, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns Western European
Service Medals 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

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 11 June 1917 Age 21
Place of Death Belgium
Cause Died of wounds
Notices Timaru Herald, 26 June 1917
Memorial or Cemetery Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord, France
Memorial Reference I.S. 12.
New Zealand Memorials On Memorial wall, Timaru, St Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru Memorial

Biographical Notes

Henry George Nutsford was born in Timaru on 17 January 1896 to Priscilla Jane and Daniel Edward Nutsford. The couple were boarding house keepers in Sophia Street by 1914.

Henry was a saddler for Triggs & Denton who operated a leathergoods store opposite the Arcade in Stafford St when he enlisted on 28 June 1916. He was described as single, Anglican, 5ft 6in, and 137lbs, with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair. He was posted to 18th Reinforcements, J Company and embarked at Wellington on 10 November 1916 on the Tofua, bound for Plymouth, England. He marched into Sling camp on 29 December 1916 and left for France on 1 February 1917. Henry suffered influenza and tonsilitis that February and did not return to the Field until 3 June. Just four days later he was wounded in action with gunshot wounds to the left arm and thigh. He died of those wounds at the No.2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station on 11 June, aged just 21 - a very short and tragic war.

Henry was buried in the Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord, France and is also remembered on the St Mary’s Anglican Church memorial.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [August 2013 and June 2021]; Commonwealth War Graves Commission website (http://www.cwgc.org/); http://www.dia.govt.nz/Births-deaths-and-marriages; Timaru Herald memorium 11 June 1918; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records [June 2021]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available.

Researched and Written by

Maree Bowen, SC branch NZSG; Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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