Profile

O'BRIEN, Arthur Michael
(Service number 32885)

Aliases
First Rank Sergeant Major Last Rank

Birth

Date 12/12/1880 Place of Birth Gladstone, Invercargill

Enlistment Information

Date 28 July 1916 Age 35 years
Address at Enlistment C/o C. E. Neiderer, George Street, Invercargill
Occupation Labourer
Previous Military Experience Christchurch Cycle Corps - disbanded
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Alfred James DURRANT (DURANT) (half-brother), care of E. HENDERSON, Esq., Yellow Bluff, Otautau, Southland
Religion Roman Catholic
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 22nd Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company
Date 16 February 1917
Transport Navua
Embarked From Destination Devonport, Devon, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

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 9 February 1919 Reason No longer physically fit for War Service (gunshot wounds).

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Farm hand; curator (park)

Death

Date 24 November 1934 Age 53 years
Place of Death Waimate
Cause
Notices Press, 26 November 1934
Memorial or Cemetery Waimate Old Cemetery
Memorial Reference Plot 522
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Arthur Michael O’Brien was born on 12 December 1880 at Gladstone, Invercargill, he declared on enlisting. By his obituaries, his parents died when he was young, and he went to Christchurch where he was educated at West Christchurch and Normal schools. There are two records for his admission to Christchurch Normal School on 19 August 1889, giving a birthdate of 20 December 1880. One identifies his parent/guardian as Mr Durant, Cambridge Terrace, the other as G. O’Brien, Cambridge Terrace.

Indeed, Arthur was at Temuka in the early 1900s, working as a porter. Arthur Michael O’Brien was a labourer for Mr Neiderer at Invercargill when he enlisted, nominating his half-brother as next-of-kin – Alfred James Durrant (Durant), care of E. Henderson, Esq., Yellow Bluff, Otautau, Southland. Alfred James Durrant who was the son of George and Susan Durant, was born at Christchurch in 1888. Alfred, too, attended Christchuch Normal School, in 1891, the home address being Cambridge Terrace. His mother died in January 1888, the day after the birth of a daughter. She was 32 years of age and had been in New Zealand for two years. Alfred enlisted in August 1914 at Invercargill and embarked with the Main Body. He arrived home in February 1916 and settled back at Otautau. The relationship between Arthur and Alfred is not readily apparent.

Sergeant-Major A. M. O’Brien embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Regiment of the 22nd Reinforcements, departing for Devonport, England, per the Navua on 16 February 1917. He returned to New Zealand per the Tahiti, embarking at Liverpool on 3 December 1918 and arriving on 12 January 1919. Arthur married Ellen Constance Anstiss (née Gundry), a widow with three sons, in 1920. He farmed at Tawai near Waimate for some time before taking the position of curator at Knottingley Park, Waimate.

Arthur Michael O’Brien died suddenly on 24 November 1934 at Waimate, aged 53 years, and was buried in the Old Waimate Cemetery. He was accorded a military funeral. See attached obituaries.

A Michael Arthur O’Brien was born in April 1881 at Dunedin, the son of Michael and Bridget O’Brien. Bridget died in 1898 at Dunedin. Was this the same man?

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [22 September 2023]; Press, 26 November 1934, Timaru Herald, 30 November 1934 (Papers Past) [22 & 23 September 2023]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [23 September 2023]; Waimate Cemetery records [23 September 2023]

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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