Profile

LUSCOMBE, Arthur Wilkes
(Service number 61318)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Rifleman

Birth

Date 07/03/1886 Place of Birth Waimate

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment Lochiel
Occupation Groom
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Miss O. LUSCOMBE (sister), St Andrews, Canterbury
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

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 33rd Reinforcements, E Company
Date 31 December 1917
Transport Athenic
Embarked From Destination
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With New Zealand Rifle Brigade

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
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

Horse manager; farm hand

Death

Date 27 July 1963 Age 77 years
Place of Death Taumarunui
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Taumarunui New Cemetery
Memorial Reference RSA Section, Plot 53
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Arthur Wilkes Luscombe was born on 7 March 1886 at Waimate, the son of Philip Henry Bond Luscombe and his second wife, Mary Matilda (née Wilkes) Luscombe. He was probably educated at Hook School, where his father was elected chairman of the school committee in 1890. Philip Henry Bond Luscombe died on 1 July 1904 at Waimate Hospital and Mrs Mary Matilda Luscombe died on 14 July 1910 at her home, Burleigh Farm, Makikihi. In 1916 Arthur Luscombe was listed as a groom on the Reserve Rolls. His older half-brother, Philip Henry Luscombe, had also moved to Southland, where he was listed on the Reserve Rolls. When Arthur was called up and enlisted he was a groom at Lochiel, Southland. He nominated his sister as next-of-kin – Miss Olive Luscombe, St Andrews, Canterbury. A. W. Luscombe, of St Andrews, returned to New Zealand per the ‘Awarua’ which was due at Auckland about 19 November 1919. Arthur Wilkes Luscombe had a few brushes with the law both before and after the war, and incurred several penalties during his service. By the 1930s he had moved to Masterton and in the 1950s retired to Taumarunui, where he died on 27 July 1963, aged 77 years. He was buried in the RSA section of Taumarunui New Cemetery, his grave marked by a services plaque. His brother, Herbert John Luscombe, of St Andrews, was held for home service; another brother, Ernest Edward Luscombe, who was drawn in the ballot, enlisted for service in World War One; and his sister, Mary Olive Luscombe, joined the Volunteer Aid Detachment and served in New Zealand.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [01 November 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [21 December 2020]; Taumarunui Cemetery burial record (Ruapehu District Council) [26 December 2002]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [26 December 2020]; South Canterbury Times, 3 May 1904, Timaru Herald, 11 July 1904, 15 July 1910, 30 October 1919 (Papers Past) [01 November 2020; 26 December 2020]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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