Profile

PIERCE, Arnold Friedom
(Service number 6/1954)

Aliases MIddle name incorrectly spelt as 'Freedom' in his military service records
First Rank Private Last Rank Lance Corporal

Birth

Date 22 September 1895 Place of Birth Orari, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date 6 January 1915 Age 19
Address at Enlistment Orari, New Zealand
Occupation Labourer
Previous Military Experience B Company, 2nd South Canterbury Regiment
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mr A. Pierce (father) Orari, New Zealand
Religion Church of England
Medical Information 5 foot 10 inches tall, weight 162 lbs, chest 34 1/2 inches, fair complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, upper teeth falsse, lower good

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 Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date 17 April 1915
Transport Willochra, Knight Templar, or Waitomo
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With Army Pay Corps
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns Egyptian, Balkans (Gallipoli), and Mudros
Service Medals 1914-1915 Star, 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 28 January 1918 Reason Medically unfit

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

14 June 1915: evacuated from Gallipoli, spent the next year in and out of various hospital from Malta to UK suffering from TB

Post-war Occupations

NZ Railways shunter & guard

Death

Date 24 September 1958 Age 63
Place of Death Taihape, New Zealand
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Taihape, New Zealand
Memorial Reference East Plot 21, RSA Block 1, Row 46
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Arnold was born at Orari, South Canterbury, on 22 September 1895, the son of Alfred & Catherine Elizabeth (nee Moore) Pierce.

When he enlisted on 6 January 1915, he was a member of B Company, 2nd South Canterbury Regiment, and was working as a labourer at Orari, for Mr G.A. McDonald. He was described as being Anglican, aged 19, single, 5 foot 10 inches tall, weighing 162 lbs, his chest measuring 34 ½ inches, of fair complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, with good lower teeth and false uppers. His father, Mr A. Pierce of Orari, was listed as his next of kin. After initial training, Private Pierce of the Canterbury Infantry Battalion, left Wellington on 17 April 1915, with the 4th Reinforcements aboard either the Willochra, Knight Templar, or Waitomo, bound for Suez, Egypt. After serving in Egypt, Arnold joined his unit at Gallipoli on 8 June 1915. On 14 June he was admitted to the Hospital Ship HMS Newmarket and transferred to No 2 Stationary Hospital on the island of Mudros. July 16 saw him sent to hospital in Malta and on 14 September he was transferred to England and admitted into Bethnal Green Hospital.

On 7 March 1916 he was taken on strength of NZ Base Depot at Grey Towers and on 19 July promoted to Lance Corporal and posted to the NZ Pay Corps. On 18 September he was again admitted to the NZ Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch. During this time he was being treated for tuberculosis, and on 24 November 1916, was taken on strength of the Convalescent Hospital, Hornchurch to work with the venereal patients. Arnold was again admitted to the TB ward at Codford on 22 January 1917, until 26 August, when he was transferred to No 3 NZ General Hospital. Classified as unfit for further military duties on 19 September, he embarked for return to NZ aboard SS Marama on 21 November, arriving home on 31 December 1917. His discharge from the army followed on 28 January 1918, as unfit for further military service through illness contracted on active service. In total Arnold had served 3 years and 23 days, which earned him the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Arnold returned to Orari and, in 1922, married Miss Ellen McLean. In 1935 he was employed by the NZ Railways at Lyttelton. He then moved to Taihape, where he was to spend the rest of his working life as a shunter and guard. He died there on 24 September 1958, aged 63, and is buried in the Taihape Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [16 September 2016], NZ Drfence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref, AABK 18805 W5539 00398120.[26 September 2016].

External Links

Related Documents

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Researched and Written by

Dianne Hall

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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