NEWSON, James
(Service number 9/961)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank | Driver |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 17/09/1882 | Place of Birth | Goodwood |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 13 December 1914 | Age | 32 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Herbert, New Zealand | ||
| Occupation | Farm labourer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Thomas A. SCOTT, saddler, Cave, Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | 4th Reinforcements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Otago Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | 17 April 1915 | ||
| Transport | Willochra of Knight Templar or Waitomo | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Egyptian and Gallipoli, Western Front | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal, Victory Medal, 1914-1915 Star | ||
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 May 1945 | Age | 62 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Kaiapoi | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Te-Kai-A-Te-Atua Cemetery, Kaiapoi | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | Cave War Memorial | ||
Biographical Notes
James Newson was born at Goodwood, Otago on 17 September 1882.
At the time of his enlistment on 13 December 1914 he was working at a farm labourer on the Beckingsale farm at Herbert. He was described as 5ft 6in, 170lbs, fair complexion, with brown eyes, and brown hair, a protestant, and single. He embarked at Wellington on 17 April 1915 as a trooper with the 4th Reinforcements, Otago Mounted Rifles, bound for Suez and Egypt. His next of kin was given as as his friend Thomas Scott, sadler, of Cave. Newson took part in the Gallipoli and Western Front campaigns, being wounded at Gallipoli on 27 August 1915, returning to active service on 16 February 1916. Ultimately he was discharged on 13 April 1919 having completed 4 years and 122 days of service. He was awarded the British War Medal, Victory Medal and 1914-1915 Star. The Timaru Herald of 24 March 1919 advertised a Welcome Home social at Cave at which medals were to presented to local returning soldiers. J Newson was one of those and his name is inscribed on the Cave War Memorial on the column headed "Those who offered their lives by serving overseas"..
In the 1928 electoral roll he was described as a farmer of Cave. James married Matateka Tirikatene in 1935. Ten years later he died at Kaiapoi on 8 May 1945 aged 63 and is buried at Te-Kai-A-Te-Atua Cemetery, Kaiapoi. He is remembered on the Cave War Memorial.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [14 December 2018]; Timaru Herald, 5 March 1919 (Papers Past) [14 December 2018]; ; Assorted records at Ancestry.com [August 2021]; NZBMD
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG; Sahiban Kanwal; Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.