Profile

HANIFIN, Owen
(Service number 53002)

Aliases
First Rank	Private	Last Rank	Private

Birth

Date	17/01/1892	Place of Birth	Temuka

Enlistment Information

Date		Age
Address at Enlistment	Sifert Coy., Shannon. Post Office Hotel, Palmerston North
Occupation	Labourer (Sifert Coy.)
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Mrs B. HANIFIN (mother), Temuka
Religion	Roman Catholic
Medical Information	Height 5 feet 4 inches. Weight 143 lbs. Chest measurement 34-39 inches. Complexion dark. Eyes brown. Hair black. Sight, hearing, Colour vision, heart and lungs all normal. Limbs and chest well formed. Full movement of joints. No illnesses. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Vaccinated. Good bodily and mental health. Some slight defect(s) but not sufficient to cause rejection. No fits. Deemed Class A. Scar on left side of neck and face.

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	27th Reinforcements F Company
Date	16 July 1917
Transport	Athenic
Embarked From	Wellington	Destination	Liverpool, England

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With	Otago Regiment

Military Awards

Campaigns
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	14 April 1919	Reason	Termination of his period of engagement

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Reported that he was wounded on 5 September 1918 and admitted to hospital in France on 7 September, suffering from gunshot wound in right leg and arm. Admitted to No. 1 NZ General Hospital with gun shot wound received on 18 September 1918.

Post-war Occupations

Labourer

Death

Date	25 September 1973	Age	81 yrs
Place of Death	Timaru (of Temuka)
Cause
Notices	Timaru Herald, 27 September 1973
Memorial or Cemetery	Temuka Cemetery
Memorial Reference	Services Section, Row 180, Plot 619
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Owen HANIFIN was a son of Michael and Bridget (nee CARR) HANIFIN. His brothers Con and Jeremiah HANIFIN also served in WWI, both predeceasing Owen; all three were at the front at the same time. Two younger brothers, Michael Joseph HANIFIN and John Joseph HANIFIN, served in WWII. Owen returned to New Zealand per "Ruahine", embarking at London on 8 December 1918. He was granted sick-leave from 23 January till 29 January 1919. Owen, who never married, died in 1973. His funeral service was held at St Joseph's Church, Temuka, followed by burial in the Temuka Cemetery, attended by members of the Temuka RSA. Owen was one of 45 returned soldiers who were presented with gold medals at a most memorable gathering organised by the Waitohi Flat Presentation and Memorial Committee and held in the Waitohi schoolroom in November 1919. a enjoyable concert was provided before the returned soldiers, assembled in the front seats, were thanked and welcomed home. All involved were thanked for their kindness and mementoes of the war and the ladies of Waitohi were thanked for the much-valued parcels sent to the front.

Sources

Cenotaph Database [24 January 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5539 0050046) [25 July 2014]; Headstone image & burial record Temuka Cemetery (Timaru District Council) [24 July 2014]; Timaru Herald, 23 September 1918, 10 November 1919 (Papers Past) [25 July 2014]; Timaru Herald, 27 September 1973 (Timaru District Library) [25 July 2014]; NZ BDM Indexes (DIA historical records) [24 January 2014; 24 July 2014]

External Links

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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.