Profile

FITZGERALD, John
(Service number 52675)

Aliases
First Rank	Rifleman	Last Rank	Rifleman

Birth

Date	15/12/1878	Place of Birth	Ashburton

Enlistment Information

Date	14 February 1917	Age	38 yrs 2 mths
Address at Enlistment	Culverden
Occupation	Platelayer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Married. Married Kathleen (Catherine Madeline) MARKHAM on 24 November 1915 at Geraldine. Child - Hector Joseph FITZGERALD born 31 January 1917 at Rangiora.
Next of Kin	Mrs C. FITZGERALD (wife), care of T. MARKAHAM (MARKHAM), Orari Bridge, Geraldine
Religion	Roman Catholic
Medical Information	Height 5 feet 8 inches. Weight 159 lbs. Chest 33-35 inches. Complexion fair. Eyes blue. Hair light. Sight 6/6 for both eyes. Hearing & colour vision good. Limbs & chest well formed. Full movement of joints. Heart & lungs normal. No illnesses. Free from hernia, variocele, varicose veins, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Slight haemorrhoids. Vaccinated (right arm). Good bodily & mental health. No defects. No fits. Declared Fit 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	27th Reinforcements G Company
Date	16 July 1917
Transport	Athenic
Embarked From	Wellington	Destination	Liverpool, England

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns	Messines
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	26 June 1919	Reason	Termination of period of engagement.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Farmer

Death

Date	6 March 1973	Age	94 yrs
Place of Death	Christchurch
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Memorial Park Cemetery, Christchurch
Memorial Reference	Block 2, Plot 190
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

This John FITZGERALD was the second born son of David and Bridget (nee BUCKLEY) FITZGERALD, both of Ireland.

John married Catherine Madeline MARKHAM, on 24 November 1915 at Geraldine. When he was called up, John said that he had married on 15th November (1915) and asked for three months extension on the grounds that the health of his wife would be detrimentally affected by his being called up at that time (February 1917). He was allowed one month. Their son, Hector Joseph, was born on 31 January 1917. On enlistment he was working as a plate layer for the Public Works Department. 19 July 1917 appointed baker; 16 September 1917 ceased to be baker. John served 1 year and 318 days abroad. He embarked for the return to New Zealand by 'Tofua' on 18 April 1919 and was due to reach this country in late May 1917, for Geraldine. After the war John engaged in farming, firstly at Orari Bridge, later at Glentunnel and Kirwee, before moving to Christchurch where he retired. John's brother James Joseph FITZGERALD also enlisted for WWI; as did his brothers David FITZGERALD (62815), Edmund FITZGERALD (83325) and William Joseph FITZGERALD, all born in Ashburton and resident there at time of Elistment.

Sources

Cenotaph Database [31 July 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5537 0040343) [14 March 2014]; Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database (Memorial Park Cemetery) [30 March 2014]; Memorial Park Cemetery, Christchurch - memorial inscription (South Canterbury Branch NZSG Cemetery Records - microfiche) [30 March 2014]; Records; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.co.au) [30 March 2014]; NZ BDM historical records [July 2013; 30 March 2014]; Press, 15 February 1917, Timaru Herald, 19 May 1919 (Papers Past) [27 March 2014; 16 September 2014]

External Links

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Currently Assigned to

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