Profile

KIRBY, Arthur
(Service number 11684)

Aliases
First Rank	Private	Last Rank

Birth

Date	20 October 1896	Place of Birth	Christchurch

Enlistment Information

Date	16 December 1914	Age	18 years 1 month
Address at Enlistment	236 Gloucester Street, Christchurch
Occupation	Glass polisher
Previous Military Experience	E Battery Christchurch - serving
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Mrs E. WILSON (mother), Pleasant Point, South Canterbury
Religion	Baptist
Medical Information	Height 5 feet 10¾ inches. Weight 182 lbs. Chest measurement 37-40½ inches. Complexion fresh. Eyes blue. Hair light brown. Sight, hearing & colour vision all normal. Limbs well formed. Full & perfect movement of all joints. Chest well formed. Heart & lungs normal. teeth - pass. No illnesses. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Vaccinated. Good bodily & mental health. No slight defects. No fits. Scar inner side left leg below knee. Fit.

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	12th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company
Date	1 May 1916
Transport	Ulimaroa
Embarked From	Wellington	Destination	Suez, Egypt

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	28 April 1920	Reason	In consequence of being no longer physically fit on account of wounds received in action.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

19 September 1916 - hospital France - shell shock

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date		Age
Place of Death
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Arthur Kirby wasborn on 20 October 1896 at Christchurch, the son of Detective Austin Kirby and his second wife, Elizabeth Ellen Foweraker. His mother Elizabeth married secondly James Wilson, in 1911. Arthur had registered for compulsory miltary training at Feilding, though he had been previously rejected as unfit for the military forces on account of slight varicose veins. he was certainly a well built young man, standing at over 5 feet 10 inches tall and weinging 182 lbs. There was no report of varicose veins at his medical examination. He enlisted in December 1914 when he was only eighteen years old, though he gave his birth year as 1894 and age as 21 years. Arthur gave well over four years of service, three years being overseas. His brother Percy also served in World War One.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [30 July 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5541 0064870) [08 November 2013]

External Links

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